American Pharma: The Science and Big Business Behind Your Drugs

Craig Streu, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Albion College. Thursdays. 10:00 am. – 12:00 noon. February 6, 13, 20, 27. Location Putnam 257.

Pharmaceuticals are big business in America. Global trade treaties, the stock market, and most importantly, our health, rely on developments in this rapidly evolving industry. How does it work and why should we all care? This course will examine the types of pharmaceuticals, how each works, and how they are discovered, developed, marketed and ultimately brought to market. The course will have a distinct focus on the science behind drugs, but it is impossible to separate the science of drug discovery from the business of drug sales, and so the course will often and unavoidably diverge into topics of ethics, marketing and economics.

Topics include the following: how drugs work at the molecular level, what makes a ‘good’ drug, chemical and other strategies for discovering new drugs, the drug development process and timeline, FDA approval process, drug naming and marketing, intellectual property/patent issues, generic vs. name brand drugs, and drug wholesalers and sales.