Product Development

Pharmaceutical development is the first stage in the product development process, whereby molecules1 that have been discovered in the drug discovery2 phase are turned into medicines that treat patients.

Steps in the product development phase: Pharmaceutical - Non-clinical - Clinical - Regulatory.

Pharmaceutical development
The goal of pharmaceutical development is to develop novel or improved innovative high quality pharmaceutical products in a cost-effective way and to continue to support those products throughout their life cycle.

This involves:

Pharmaceutical formulation [url: "/en/randd/Creating+New+Medicines/Drug+Development/Product+Development+more.htm#pharmaceutical_formulation" ] - the formulation of molecules into a medicinal format e.g. capsule or injectable product
Process development [url: "/en/randd/Creating+New+Medicines/Drug+Development/Product+Development+more.htm#process_development" ]- The development of manufacturing processes by which the molecule can be consistently reproduced on a commercial scale
Pharmaceutical analysis [url: "/en/randd/Creating+New+Medicines/Drug+Development/Product+Development+more.htm#pharmaceutical_analysis" ] – the development of analytical methods to characterise the molecule including its chemical structure3, physical properties, stability and the presence of impurities
Pharmaceutical maintenance [url: "/en/randd/Creating+New+Medicines/Drug+Development/Product+Development+more.htm#pharmaceutical_maintenance" ] – improvements or changes in manufacturing processes, formulation, or analytical methods

Ferring’s pharmaceutical development activities are concentrated at the International PharmaScience Center (IPC) [url: "/en/aboutus/locations/Ferring+International+Center.htm" ] in Denmark.

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Glossary Entries
1) molecules - The smallest particle of a substance that has all of the physical and chemical properties of that substance. Molecules are made up of one or more atoms. If they contain more than one atom, the atoms can be the same (an oxygen molecule has two oxygen atoms) or different (a water molecule has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom). Biological molecules, such as proteins and DNA, can be made up of many thousands of atoms.
2) drug discovery - The process by which drugs are discovered and/or designed. In the past most drugs have been discovered either by identifying the active ingredient from traditional remedies or by serendipitous discovery. A new approach has been to understand how disease and infection are controlled at the molecular and physiological level and to target specific entities based on this knowledge. The process of drug discovery involves the identification of candidates, synthesis, characterization, screening, and assays for therapeutic efficacy. Once a compound has shown its value in these tests, it will begin the process of drug development prior to clinical trials.
3) chemical structure - Refers to both molecular geometry and to electronic structure. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule and the chemical bonds that hold the atoms together. Molecular geometry can range from the very simple, such as diatomic oxygen or nitrogen molecules, to the very complex, such as protein or DNA molecules. Electronic structure describes the occupation of a compound's molecular orbitals.

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