Medicinal chemist vs wet chemistry analyst

The differences between medicinal chemists and wet chemistry analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a medicinal chemist has an average salary of $65,248, which is higher than the $50,615 average annual salary of a wet chemistry analyst.

The top three skills for a medicinal chemist include NMR, SAR and HPLC. The most important skills for a wet chemistry analyst are AA, wet chemistry, and analytical methods.

Medicinal chemist vs wet chemistry analyst overview

	Medicinal Chemist	Wet Chemistry Analyst
Yearly salary	$65,248	$50,615
Hourly rate	$31.37	$24.33
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	2,662	2,826
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

Medicinal chemist vs wet chemistry analyst salary

Medicinal chemists and wet chemistry analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medicinal Chemist	Wet Chemistry Analyst
Average salary	$65,248	$50,615
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $96,000	Between $36,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	Delaware	-
Best paying company	Novartis	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between medicinal chemist and wet chemistry analyst education

There are a few differences between a medicinal chemist and a wet chemistry analyst in terms of educational background:

	Medicinal Chemist	Wet Chemistry Analyst
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of California, Berkeley

Medicinal chemist vs wet chemistry analyst demographics

Here are the differences between medicinal chemists' and wet chemistry analysts' demographics:

	Medicinal Chemist	Wet Chemistry Analyst
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 80.5% Female, 19.5%	Male, 44.2% Female, 55.8%
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, 8.2% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 18.1% White, 59.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between medicinal chemist and wet chemistry analyst duties and responsibilities

Medicinal chemist example responsibilities.

Achieve expertise with hydrogenations and catalysts, low temp reactions, TLC, reactions done with UV and infrare lights.
Produce inactive analogues of drug candidates for PK/PD comparison with API compounds.
Analyze compound purity using LCMS and NMR spectroscopy.
Develop and optimize protocols on HPLC, LC-MS and other analytical instruments.
Publish two patents for drug synthesis process and utilize this process to produce over 100 drug candidates.
Contribute to SAR development for projects.

Wet chemistry analyst example responsibilities.

Perform manual analysis of soil, water and waste samples using distillation, titration, and absorbance reading methods for contaminates.
Follow GMP and GLP regulatory requirements.
Verify purity of receive chemicals by FTIR.
Perform purify water and USP raw materials testing.
Train new employees on GMP and GLP regulations.
Ensure quality of sunscreen products by analysis on HPLC.

Medicinal chemist vs wet chemistry analyst skills

Common medicinal chemist skills

NMR, 19%
SAR, 14%
HPLC, 14%
Organic Synthesis, 10%
LC-MS, 8%
Drug Discovery, 5%

Common wet chemistry analyst skills

AA, 9%
Wet Chemistry, 8%
Analytical Methods, 8%
Laboratory Equipment, 7%
Lims, 4%
Analyze Samples, 4%

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Medicinal Chemist vs Wet Chemistry Analyst

Updated January 8, 2025

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