Pharmacy profession in Goa is the oldest in the Indian subcontinent. The first ever Pharmacy course was introduced along with the medical course in 1842 at the old Portuguese school known as “Escola Medica de Goa” and later named as “Escola Medica Cirurgica de Goa”. The Pharmacists (farmaceuticos) and Doctors (Medica Cirurgiao) were educated and trained in the same medical school and they had almost the same status in the Goan society.

In the year 1963, after liberation of Goa in 1961, the institute was renamed as ” GOA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY” and shifted to the present premises which was formerly a Portuguese school. This pharmacy course was upgraded to a full fledged degree course of Bachelor of Pharmacy under University of Bombay. Diploma in Pharmacy course was started in 1966. Later in 1970, the college was recognized for Master’s degree in Pharmacy entirely by Research, under University of Bombay.

The college is now affiliated to Goa University , is approved by Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) , All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi and is run by Government of Goa.

M.Pharm.(Quality Assurance) was introduced in 1992 followed by M.Pharm.( Pharmacology) in August 2003 and M.Pharm.(Pharmacognosy) in 2010.