How to achieve a more sustainable drug life cycle in the pharmaceutical industry?

Sustainability challenges for new, greener, drugs

New drugs should be designed with sustainability in mind from the beginning, involving several key considerations already in the initial phases of development.

Green chemistry and environmentally friendly approaches can be applied to design environmentally benign protocols (“Benign-By-Design approach”) to minimize the environmental impact of medicines. Green chemistry principles include atom economy (an approach to designing chemical reactions that aims at reducing waste and increasing efficiency), minimizing the use of derivatives and reducing waste creation in all production steps. They promote the use of renewable feedstocks while minimizing the usage of dangerous and harmful chemicals, preferring energy efficient processes to further cut down on waste generation.

For example, AstraZeneca estimates that sustainable drug discovery using green chemistry and incorporating new sustainable techniques will save approximately 500,000 kg of carbon dioxide each year versus traditional processes.¹RSC Advances, Green chemistry approaches as sustainable alternatives to conventional strategies in the pharmaceutical industry, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA00358J

However, there are sustainability challenges associated with developing and producing new drugs more ecologically friendly, such as:

• Finding sustainable raw materials: many eco-friendly drugs are made from natural or plant-based ingredients. While these ingredients can be more sustainable than synthetic chemicals, properly sourcing them can be challenging, especially as demand for these materials increases.
• Ensuring chemical safety: eco-friendly drugs often use alternative or novel chemicals, and the environmental safety of these chemicals may not be well understood. This can create challenges in assessing and managing the environmental risks associated with production and use.

Sustainability challenges for existing drugs

What about existing synthetic drugs? Sustainable pharmacy concepts and green chemistry should be integrated in the development of synthetized drugs and the process should be optimized accordingly, to reduce the consumed quantities of ingredients, increase yield, and use safer solvents. In order to introduce these changes, it is clear that in many cases the key challenge is to develop novel synthetic methods that once introduced can really propel the new process toward a more sustainable development.

For example, one important issue for existing synthetic drugs is managing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) during production. In order to develop greener methods to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), toxic and harmful VOCs (e.g., toluene, chloroethylene) production should be reduced or properly mitigated with efficient removal techniques. VOCs in the pharmaceutical industry can originate from the use of organic solvents in different steps of the process; eliminating them for less polluting ones requires new synthesis steps and novel production methods.

Several companies have begun efforts and invested in the advancement of novel and environmentally sustainable production methods for their molecules. For example:

• Astellas: by setting voluntary numerical targets for each year for several years, Astellas paid close attention to their VOC emissions and cut them down by more than 30% since 2018.²Journal of Environmental Sciences, Green technologies in pharmaceutical production: Current status and future perspective, 2023, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1001074222005113³Astellas Pharma Inc., Initiatives for Preventing Pollution, 2023, https://www.astellas.com/en/sustainability/initiatives-for-preventing-pollution
• BASF: in their plant in Bishop, Texas, the company followed several green chemistry principles to reduce the steps in the production process of ibuprofen; this achieved a product carbon footprint 30% below the industry average of other companies.⁴ Astellas Pharma Inc., EHS Report 2022, 2022, https://www.astellas.com/en/system/files/ehs-report2022_en_final_1.pdf
• Pfizer: the company overhauled the production of pregabalin (Lyrica) by replacing solvents with water and strongly improving its processes. In turn, this decreased the use of solvents such as methanol, tetrahydrofuran and isopropanol by more than one million gallons annually, and reduced the energy use of the whole process by 83%.⁵Pharma, B. (2023, 29 septembre). A Deeper Look Inside a Pill : Moving from Corporate ESG Commitments to Carbon Footprints of Drug Products. BASF Pharma. https://pharma.basf.com/learning-center/features/a-deeper-look-inside-a-pill-moving-from-corporate-esg-commitments-to-carbon-footprints-of-drug-products

Transversal sustainability challenges for new and existing drugs

The first transversal sustainability challenge is ensuring a sustainable supply chain. For example, pharmaceutical companies can privilege partnerships with suppliers that have an accredited sustainability standard (such as Ecovadis). Concurrently, local sourcing of raw materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to the greatest feasible extent can further support the efforts. Transitioning to green chemistry methods while sourcing materials globally undermines sustainability gains by significantly increasing transport-related carbon emissions. By prioritizing local or regional supply chains, companies can substantially reduce the environmental footprint of their pharmaceuticals, enhance the reliability of their supply chain, and promote local economic development.

Secondly, regardless of whether a drug is new or is already being produced, a key challenge that applies to both is end of life degradability. Designing drugs to degrade at a reasonable rate after use is an important principle of green chemistry, so that they do not accumulate in the environment. Designing drugs that are degradable with a correct level of chemical stability and a reasonable shelf life is an important topic of discussion in the field.

Beside the pharmaceutical industry and its environmental responsibility, consumers should also be aware of their role in this scenario. In this regard, the key aspect is responsible use and safe disposal of unused medicines by consumers themselves, as this is crucial to improve the environmental performance of the healthcare sector as a whole. Healthcare players can play a crucial role in the sensibilization of consumers and can actively organize public awareness campaigns on how to avoid wasteful consumption and proper medicine disposal.

In conclusion, fostering sustainable drug development is imperative for the future of the pharmaceutical sector. As environmental considerations gain prominence across all industries, pharmaceutical companies should move towards producing more environmentally friendly drugs. This transition will require investments in research and the implementation of eco-friendly practices and innovations, as well as opening up to the idea of possibly redesigning the lifecycle of certain drugs for greener final products.

Do you want to explore possible sustainable solutions for your drug development? Do you need help to rethink a more sustainable healthcare business model? Do you need support to spread awareness internally or to consumers? Don’t hesitate to contact our team!

About the authors,

Lorenzo, Senior Consultant in the Health team at Alcimed in Milano