Gearing up to the needs of the pharmaceutical industry

The loss of jobs in the textile industry has turned the focus on which industries are sustainable in Malta. The relative success of the pharmaceutical industry in being attracted to Malta points to the need for the University to prepare future scientists to meet the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry.

This industry complained that fresh graduates, interviewed by the industry, were asking for too high a salary, as compared not to China or India but to nearby Italy, when these applicants have no experience and are just starting their career.

Others in the pharmaceutical industry stated that there was too much movement of scientific personnel from one industry to another. On the other hand, a few other Maltese, qualified with Masters and Ph.D. degrees in the pharmaceutical areas, preferred to seek employment with government entities rather than take up better paid positions in the pharmaceutical industry, where their service is more urgently needed.

This led to the local industry having to recruit scientists from other countries, such as the UK, Italy and India. The pharmaceutical industry's needs for inexperienced new graduates with a first degree in the sciences and pharmacy were more than fully satisfied this year.

The industry also received the full co-operation of pharmacy and other science-based departments at the University. This was the first year when the University produced more graduates with a first degree in these areas than were actually absorbed; so much so that some graduates are still looking for full time employment.

One has therefore to be careful not to overproduce graduates in the pharmaceutical sciences. Quality is much more important than quantity in this area. The departments concerned should consider upgrading the entry requirements to match those of European countries.

For example, pharmacy has very low entry requirements as far as A Level grades are concerned when compared to other European countries. This year, the government did not offer employment to all graduates in pharmacy as it did to the graduates in medicine, giving rise to the possibility of unemployed pharmacists.

It is said that, out of around 50 original applicants for a government post as a pharmacist, only eight were recruited. Up to a few years ago, the government found it difficult to find enough pharmacists to meet its needs.

On the other hand, there is the need for more science-based post-graduate education. This is why the step taken by the government to offer scholarships to post-graduate students is very timely.

The University must now ensure that applicants for M.Phil. and Ph.D. courses are speedily considered. There are still complaints of unnecessary hurdles and problems met in obtaining approval for post-graduate projects created by the many mushrooming committees and authorities, be they scientific, administrative or ethical.

These complaints, coming equally from both students and academic staff, are falling on deaf ears. Are all these committees really needed in such a small island? Many of the committee members are not rewarded for their service and, for this and other reasons, committee meetings are not held as frequently as required. The students and the country are made to suffer from this inefficiency.

Recently there were complaints from prominent professors who were asked to participate in multi-centred clinical trials. Notwithstanding that these trials were approved in all other countries (including EU countries) where the applications were submitted, they failed to be accepted in Malta.

The ability to carry out clinical trials, besides being a source of income and a job generating activity in itself, is a great attraction to certain pharmaceutical industries. For example, some bioequivalence studies for products which were researched and developed by the local industry are being carried out in distant countries, such as South Africa or in the Eastern European countries mostly because of the bureaucracy of our systems and also because of the lack of accredited laboratory facilities.

Unbelievably excessive bureaucracy and lack of support to local laboratories is scaring away the type of service and industry which the government is saying Malta needs to attract. The Rector of the University and the departments concerned with providing basic needs for developing the pharmaceutical industry must be immediately provided with the authority and funds to promote the areas that are essential to attract and sustain the pharmaceutical industry.

The Rector must also see to it that applications for all science-based studies, especially those of benefit to the local pharmaceutical industry, are processed without undue hassle and that the delay created by passing the buck back and forward from one committee to another be stopped.