Introduction to biotechnology; the role of biotechnology in drug development and production, related basic concepts and applications; isolation and purification of macromolecules; nucleic acid amplification methods and their use in biotechnology; recombinant DNA technology and its applications in the field of pharmacy; hybridoma technology and monoclonal antibody production; antisense technology and applications; gene therapy and gene delivery systems; cell-based therapy; physicochemical properties of biopharmaceuticals and their formulation; microbial transformation techniques for the biosynthesis of corticosteroids, and their possible role in drugs development; plant tissue and organ culture techniques in the production of active drug substance; fermentation techniques and their applications in pharmaceutical industry; biologics, vaccines and serums.