How do the fine chemical, pharmaceutical, and related industries approach green chemistry and sustainability?

Abstract

Developing manufacturing processes for active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates often involves complex chemistry. All companies now aim to uphold the principles of green chemistry and sustainability as far as possible, but how effective are they in achieving this and how much variation is there from company to company? This perspective discusses the results of a survey carried out with 24 companies, including 11 “big pharma” companies and 6 “other pharma” companies. Companies from outside the pharma sector were also included to give a comparison with other areas of the fine chemical industry. These included two fine chemical manufacturers, one agrochemical manufacturer, and one flavour and fragrance company. The survey covered organisational aspects of green chemistry and sustainability, such as corporate policy and policy implementation, green chemistry and technologies, process metrics, and how the application of green issues changes through the various stages of development and whether there are different standards for low volume and/or high potency compounds.