Sustainability in Drug Discovery

There is increasing concern that a significant proportion of current drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), either in their original forms or as their transformation products, are prevalent in the environment, posing risks to human and environmental health. This has sparked discussions on designing greener APIs, ranging from adopting "benign by design" principles to outright restricting certain reagents from the pool of building blocks.

The EFMC is committed to staying at the forefront of developments in this field and influencing decisions to ensure that essential drugs reach the market efficiently. We believe the EFMC can play a pivotal role in uniting pharmaceutical companies, regulatory authorities, and academia to establish robust "benign by design" principles grounded in optimal environmental considerations, but also ensuring to the fullest the interests of the patients. Our Sustainability Working Group will dedicate time to shaping our strategy for addressing this critical issue.