University of New England announces new pharmacy school

PORTLAND, Maine A white coat ceremony greeted the first students to enroll at a Maine university’s new pharmacy school last Friday.

The University of New England, in Portland, Maine, announced Sunday the traditional inauguration ceremony at Portland’s Holiday Inn by the Bay, welcoming the UNE College of Pharmacy’s 100-student Class of 2013. One third of the students had studied pre-pharmacy at the university.

The college offers the doctor of pharmacy degree, which prepares students for work as pharmacists or pharmaceutical scientists and is awarded after four years of professional study.

The college received $4 million grant from the Maine Technology Asset Fund, a $50 million research and development bond approved by state voters in November 2007. The money supported the building of research labs to facilitate drug discovery and development at the newly constructed College of Pharmacy building.