The current edition of this text was published in 1998 and has been very well received. The proposed date of publication of the Second Edition means that the current text will be five years old and already considered to be out of date due to the technical pace at which this industry is progressing. Pharmaceutical biotechnology remains a core sector of modern biotechnological endeavour. The sector continues to grow very rapidly, and the type of information provided in this textbook continues to form a core part of the syllabus of courses in biotechnology/applied biology and pharmaceutical science. A Second Edition will build upon the success of the original and as there is still currently little direct competition within this market it will continue to be a core text for many of the courses mentioned above.