Covance By Labcorp wins prestigious Princess Royal Training Award and shares accolade with learning partner University of Leeds
Covance by Labcorp has been awarded the Princess Royal Training award for the development of the MSc Biopharmaceutical Development (Ind) degree, created in partnership with the University of Leeds.
The award, which has been personally confirmed by HRH The Princess Royal, is given to those who demonstrate a standard of excellence in their training and recognises employers from across the UK for creating outstanding development programmes that have had a direct impact on business performance and addressing business needs.
Covance by Labcorp recognised that a pipeline of new talent was needed to address an industry-wide skills shortage in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry that has been created by the rapid appearance of biological drugs. To address this, they partnered with the University of Leeds to develop MSc Biopharmaceutical Development (Industrial Placement). This award celebrates the success and innovation of this Masters programme, which aims to equip a new generation of scientists with the necessary skills.
Programme Leader Professor John Colyer from the University of Leeds, said:
This award demonstrates the value of this unique course, where advanced academic training is conducted by students in teams focussed on real-world industrial problems. This provides an integrated understanding of the drug development processes and accelerates the development of talented people.
About the MSc Biopharmaceutical Development (Industrial Placement)
This Masters degree, which is 20 months long, was strategically developed to meet industry needs, with industry insight from Covance by Labcorp, and with academic and research excellence provided by the University of Leeds’ Faculty of Biological Sciences and Covance by Labcorp.
The course offers students the opportunity to undertake a 12-month placement in the research laboratories of companies across the UK and offers them the support and guidance of leading research experts in the field.
Student success
At present, 75% of the students who have been trained on this course have been promoted from the initial roles they secured to more senior positions, with a quarter of students securing a job with Covance by Labcorp directly, upon graduation.
Alumna, Beth Peacock, MSc Biopharmaceutical Development (Industrial Placement), said:
I chose to study this course because it was offering me invaluable industry experience and teaching me, in detail, about every aspect of biopharmaceutical development from drug discovery through to commercialisation.
Beth now works for Covance by Labcorp as a Development Scientist following her 12-month placement with them.
