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The differences between medicinal chemists and process chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a process chemist has an average salary of $81,542, which is higher than the $65,248 average annual salary of a medicinal chemist.
The top three skills for a medicinal chemist include NMR, SAR and HPLC. The most important skills for a process chemist are lab equipment, HPLC, and R.
| Medicinal Chemist | Process Chemist | |
| Yearly salary | $65,248 | $81,542 |
| Hourly rate | $31.37 | $39.20 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 2,662 | 29,813 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A medicinal chemist applies their chemistry training to processing and synthesizing new pharmaceuticals. Their duties include developing new drugs, improving the processes through which pharmaceuticals are made, isolating medicinal agents, creating new synthetic drug compounds, and working with scientists in other disciplines. They are also required to develop products and production processes that are cost effective and environmentally friendly.
Process chemists are lab professionals who perform qualitative and quantitative analyses of chemicals in laboratories for quality control or to develop new products. These chemists are required to develop synthetic plans and run experiments to test their suitability for large-scale use. They must use different analytical methods and modeling software to monitor the reaction processes of chemicals as well as determine how changes in the process affect the final product. Process chemists must also be familiar with regulations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA).
Medicinal chemists and process chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medicinal Chemist | Process Chemist | |
| Average salary | $65,248 | $81,542 |
| Salary range | Between $44,000 And $96,000 | Between $54,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Wilmington, DE |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Novartis | Bio-Rad Laboratories |
| Best paying industry | - | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a medicinal chemist and a process chemist in terms of educational background:
| Medicinal Chemist | Process Chemist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Most common college | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between medicinal chemists' and process chemists' demographics:
| Medicinal Chemist | Process Chemist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.5% Female, 19.5% | Male, 77.3% Female, 22.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 26.8% White, 52.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 20.5% White, 57.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |