Building a Sustainable Future for Medicines: Enhancing Drug Lifecycle Sustainability

Dr. Labib Abdul Rasool Abdul Razaq
College of Pharmacy

Medicines can be considered part of our health at some point throughout our lives. With the ageing of the population, the need for drugs may increase to address crucial public health requirements and can impact our environmental system and health in the long run. Also, the need increases for a paradigm shift toward a more sustainable approach in the drug life cycle, discovery, development, and lab sustainability can be applied to manufacturing, packing, distribution, use, and end-of-life.

Accordingly, the pharma industry should make it a priority. Even so, this has yet to be done by many pharma companies, which are slowly gaining popularity. Despite that, some pharma companies have made progress in reducing their environmental impact, from discovering renewable energy sources to reducing waste; in the meantime, pharma companies use the concept of sustainability to polish their public image, whereas the bigger picture is disregarded. The United Nations defines sustainability as meeting the current needs without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This means sustainability is a long-term approach supporting population health and the environment. In pharmaceutical terms, sustainability is not only about adopting environmental practices. It includes the entire drug lifecycle, from research and development to disposal, to guarantee that medicines are safe, effective, accessible, cost-effective, and sustainable for the whole population.

While it is essential to undertake a sustainable approach in the pharma industry, these companies may face many significant challenges. Firstly, there needs to be a definitive concept of sustainability in the pharma industry, especially in developing new medications and their environmental impact. Secondly, there needs to be more investment in technologies and expertise that support sustainable approaches. Thirdly, company culture. Many pharma companies prefer profit and speed over environmental and social responsibility, which is associated with losing valuable resources and energy. This can lead to the prices of essential medications not being available to many vulnerable populations. Further, the cost of life-saving drugs can be expensive, and handicap access to healthcare for those who require it. Fourthly, the disposal of unused or expired medications and other global and market forces are challenges that pharma companies face .

Some principles can build and maintain sustainability in the pharmaceutical field to overcome these obstacles. Setting specific sustainability targets with clear goals can focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions or waste during development. Drug lifecycle assessment assesses their environmental impact from raw material to drug disposal. Green chemistry principles during synthesis, efforts should focus on minimizing waste and mitigating climate change impacts by employing safe and less toxic chemicals in chemical processes. Additionally, recycling and reusing solvents, water, and catalysts can decrease material consumption and promote the use of eco-friendly materials. They are determining medical needs by focusing on critical health challenges and unmet clinical needs, emphasizing medications that treat the root cause of disease, not the symptoms

sustainability poses a significant challenge that demands better preparedness.
References
1) Riikonen S, Timonen J, Sikanen T. Environmental considerations along the life cycle of pharmaceuticals: Interview study on views regarding environmental challenges, concerns, strategies, and prospects within the pharmaceutical industry. Eur J Pharm Sci. 2024 May 1;196:106743. doi: 10.1016/j.ejps.2024.106743. Epub 2024 Mar 7. PMID: 38460610.
2) Moermond CTA, Puhlmann N, Brown AR, Owen SF, Ryan J, Snape J, Venhuis BJ, Kümmerer K. GREENER Pharmaceuticals for More Sustainable Healthcare. Environ Sci Technol Lett. 2022 Sep 13;9(9):699-705. doi: 10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00446. Epub 2022 Aug 23. PMID: 36118957; PMCID: PMC9476650.
3) Aus der Beek T.; Weber F.-A.; Bergmann A.; Hickmann S.; Ebert I.; Hein A.; Küster A. Pharmaceuticals in the environment-Global occurrences and perspectives. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2016, 35 (4), 823–835. 10.1002/etc.3339
4) Teramae, F.; Makino, T.; Sengoku, S.; Lim, Y.; Natori, T.; Kodama, K. Research on Pharmaceutical Product Life Cycle Patterns for Sustainable Growth. Sustainability 2020, 12, 8938. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12218938