Working Together to Improve the Environment

Circular economy concept. Energy consumption and CO₂ emissions are increasing. Sharing,reusing,repairing,renovating and recycling existing materials and products as much possible. | Image Credit: ©Miha Creative- stock.adobe.com

The manufacture of pharmaceuticals involves active chemicals and other materials that may impact the environment. The latter half of the 20th century saw a surge in a movement to reduce climate change that continued into the 2000s. In 2015, the Paris Agreement put forth principles to keep global warming under 2 oC by 2050 (1). In 2019, the European Union introduced the European Green deal that committed Europe to become climate neutral by 2050 (1). In 2014, according to IQVIA, the healthcare industry contributed to 4.4% of the world’s carbon footprint (1). In response to these and other initiatives, the pharmaceutical industry has been working toward more sustainable manufacturing practices.

The push toward sustainability in pharmaceutical manufacturing also is seen in the increased requirements put on contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) by sponsor companies to follow sustainability practices, as contract organizations play a significant role in the development and manufacture of drugs.

“As significant third-party suppliers, CDMOs play a major contributing role in their sponsors’ overall emissions,” says Niall Harkin, executive director of Almac Group. “These requirements are a factor in negotiating partnerships as sponsors increasingly request evidence of sustainable or green manufacturing, and documenting these is now the norm on any new RFPs [request for proposals].”

“When we’re negotiating and contracting with our partners, they’re wanting to work with companies who do have ESG [environmental, social, and governance] sustainability policies in place,” says Andy Burns, vice president, MDI (Metered Dosed Inhaler) Business Development at Kindeva. Pharma companies that are more established have entrenched sustainability procedures, according to Burns, and those companies often require contract manufacturing and development organizations to follow those procedures before signing a contract.

According to Rajendra Kumar Sahu, chief executive officer of Navin Molecular, standards required by sponsor companies may include EcoVadis certification and a minimum requirement of a bronze medal at the CDMO’s last assessment. EcoVadis, founded in 2007, provides business sustainability ratings of more than 150,000 companies (2).

Sponsors may also require science-based targets to reduce carbon emissions and the reporting of scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions. “Such importance is placed on these [criteria]; customers are beginning to refuse to work with suppliers that do not meet at least one of these standards, and there are a number of companies making it clear that suppliers will be expected to be able to meet all three requirements/standards in the near future,” stresses Sahu.

“We used to see only Big Pharma or large generic drug companies having specific sustainability requirements. But now a lot of small to mid-sized biotech companies are talking to us and evaluating us on our sustainability related practices,” says Saharsh Davuluri, vice-chairman and managing director, Neuland Laboratories. “One of our largest generic customers has required us to apply for the SBTi [Science Based Targets initiative] validation, which is something that we are seeing other companies follow as well. On the innovator side, we’re seeing some of the large innovators enquire about our EcoVadis rating, beyond the standard frameworks of assessments that are available.”

Read the article in the Bio/Pharma Outsourcing Innovation eBook.

About the author

Susan Haigney is lead editor for Pharmaceutical Technology®.

Article details

Pharmaceutical Technology®/Pharmaceutical Technology® Europe/BioPharm International®
eBook: Bio/Pharma Outsourcing Innovation 2025
February 2025
Pages: 12–20

Citation

When referring to this article, please cite it as Haigney, S. Working Together to Improve the Environment. Pharmaceutical Technology Bio/Pharma Outsourcing Innovation eBook. February 2025.