Five-Figure Salaries. Big Hair. Pharma, 1987

Dwelling on the past may not prove healthy or particularly instructive, but a look back at the state of industry salaries and job prospects, circa 1987, gives us perspective on areas of change and where progress is still needed.

When this survey made its MM&M debut, in November 1987, Eli Lilly's Prozac led the list of mass-market drug launches and AIDS therapy had taken a big step forward with the approval of GlaxoSmithKline's AZT, a year earlier.

Upstarts looking to pounce on brands nearing patent expiry, and flourishing therapeutic categories, led to opportunity. “Current conditions are positive in most segments, but favor product management and generic sales,” we noted.

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