The 1st Master's students in Biopharmaceuticals are up for graduation

In August 2022, the Faculty of Pharmacy launched the Master's Programme in Biopharmaceuticals. An initiative greeted by a rapidly expanding discipline, and the Programme immediately gained a position among Uppsala University's most popular. Less than two years later, the first students are approaching graduation, and this week 28 future experts in Biopharmaceuticals are presenting their degree projects.

“Almost every student who enrolled in 2022 have made it straight through the Programme. An amazing accomplishment in line with the high quality of the presentations we have just experienced. It is also great to see that so many students chose to conduct their work with external partners such as Astra Zeneca, Cytiva and the Swedish Veterinary Agency. Some have even done their projects abroad, and every single student has carried out their assignments in the best possible way,” states Nicole Metzendorf at the Department of Pharmacy.

The Master's Programme in Biopharmaceuticals – the first of its kind in Sweden and one of only a handful in Europe – welcomes students from across world. The Programme is also uniting several research teams at the Faculty of Pharmacy, and constitutes a shared platform with numerous companies and authorities that identify great value in interacting with potential employees.

“Biologicals is a young discipline where specialized personnel are in short supply, and considering the field’s strong growth, it would not be far-fetched to make it an obligatory element of the Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy. Until then, we are happy to offer a program rewarded with very positive response by our students, who in turn show a remarkable commitment,” says Greta Hultqvist, Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmacy and a driving force in designing the program.

The external partners already engaged in the Master's Programme include the Swedish Medical Products Agency, TLV, Region Uppsala and several pharmaceutical companies. The broad perspective and its progress also attract international attention, and at a panel discussion including researchers from five countries, great interest was expressed in the faculty's initiative.

“Sweden, like many other countries, is facing great needs for Biopharmaceutical competence, and with an attractive Master's Programme we have laid an important foundation for an international recruitment base. At the same time, we know that there is abundant interest outside the academy in acquiring the skills we convey, and it would be interesting to translate parts of our program into freestanding courses, but that is a question for the future,” states Björn Wettermark, Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology and teacher at the course Life Cycle Analysis of Biologicals.

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: private