The pharmaceutical industry continues to develop to respond to challenges of an ageing population and more complex medicinal products. Advances in pharmaceutical development include a shift towards quality-by-design, the increasing importance of biopharmaceutical products and the move to stratified medicines, which will result in company product portfolios becoming much more expansive. Industrial pharmacists should be equipped to respond to the challenges of the rapidly changing environment in which they work. In order to respond to the learning needs and educational demands posed by such a dynamic environment, a rapidly increasing knowledge base, a need for specialised knowledge, and the necessity for partnership and closer collaboration between academia and industry has been recognised on the national, as well as wider, regional and EU level
