The Role of a Production Pharmacist, Explained!!

The moment when the term “pharmacist” is brought up in discussions, the first few things

that come to the minds of the public at large are pharmacists working in the hospitals and
pharmacists that are working in retail pharmacist, also known as retail pharmacists. In fact, there
are other fields in healthcare itself that necessitate the service of a pharmacist.

In the government sectors, the role of a pharmacist is very wide spread from regulatory
affair pharmacist, oncology pharmacist, clinical pharmacist enforcement pharmacist,
pharmaceutical companies, a pharmacist can work as a quality assurance pharmacist and
regulatory affair pharmacist. While in academics

In this article, I would like to share the role of a production pharmacist or a pharmacist
that is working in pharmaceutical/ biopharmaceutical manufacturing. This article serves to
educate my juniors and my peers who’s always curious on what are the job scopes of a production
pharmacist as compared to those working in the hospital or retail pharmacy. I hope this piece will
give an insight for those who’s planning to make career move into pharmaceutical production.

First and foremost, let us discuss on why a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility requires
a service from a pharmacist. A pharmacist is a professional that is trained via our tertiary
education in terms of pharmaceutical manufacturing, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. These
knowledge is indispensable for one to work in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

In pharmaceutical manufacturing, when a batch of product is being manufactured, all the

critical information pertaining to that batch of product is written on a document known as
manufacturing batch records (MBR). This document lists out all the details encompassing of the
name and the quantity of the raw materials, packaging materials, consumables/process aids and
the personnels involved in performing the processing step. The MBR details the sequential
processing steps in manufacturing of the particular product. A production pharmacist verifies the
MBR for accuracy in an activity known as batch records review.

He or she who is involved in batch records review must ensure that the MBR is complete
without missing entries, calculation errors, missing signatures, missing dates, missing attachments,
and incorrect data. When a batch of product is released into the market, information regarding
that released batch of product lies primarily in the MBR that should be archived appropriately
within the facility. In an inauspicious event that the product is later found out to be problematic
that necessitates an investigation, the MBR proves to be useful.