The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences is an Academic Drug Discovery & Development Center, which comprehensively covers academic drug research throughout pre-clinical and clinical research phases:

• The disciplines Computational Pharmacy and Molecular Pharmacy identify and synthesize targets and compounds, which may be potential drug candidates.
• The Pharmaceutical Biology group identifies pharmacologically active natural products as new drug leads.
• TheTranslational Complementary Medicine group investigates therapeutic concepts and studies the mode-of-action of herbal remedies and the impact of various extraction and production techniques on their in vitro and in vivo effects.
• The Pharmaceutical Technology group aims at developing novel galenic forms to deliver drugs of interest to the site of action in the body.
• The Nanopharmaceuticals and Regulatory Science group deals with all aspects of developing, characterizing, and manufacturing nanopharmaceuticals, and with regulatory challenges in this novel area.
• In Biopharmacy, researchers characterize the fate of a molecule in the body, describing pathways from the absorption into the body to the elimination from the body, and detect new transport systems of molecules across cells.
• The Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology group, as well as the Molecular and Systems Toxicology group, explore pharmacological effects, mechanisms of action and dosage issues of drugs, both in the therapeutic and the toxic range.
• The Regulatory Toxicology group provides scientific advice to and carries out projects for risk assessors, risk managers, and policy makers on human health risks from chemical and pharmaceutical substances. It is part of the Swiss Centre for Applied Human Toxicology (SCAHT).
• The Pharmaceutical Care research group deals with aspects of optimizing drug utilization, adherence and safety, mainly in an ambulatory setting, while researchers in Clinical Pharmacy focus on these aspects mainly in the hospital setting.
• The Pharmacoepidemiology explores the long-term safety of drugs on the market, when a large number of patients takes these drugs.
• The Neuropharmacology group investigates the effects of psychoactive substances on neurotransmission and neuronal activity.

All research groups publish at a high scientific level in internationally renowned peer-reviewed journals, thereby bridging natural science with clinical needs of patients in relevant research fields.