PHARMECO

Advancing Safe and Sustainable by design Practices in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing - PHARMECO

The health sector has a significant impact on the environment. It is responsible for between 3 and 8% of CO2 emissions in OECD (Organisation for Economic , Co-operation and Development) countries. The sector also uses large quantities of water, energy, solvents and fossil-based raw materials, and generates a lot of waste. There is an urgent need for sustainability in the healthcare industry by integrating environmentally friendlier technologies, processes and standardised sustainability assessment methods. PHARMECO is designed to address these unmet needs in pharmaceutical manufacturing, namely: 

  • The environmental impact of traditional manufacturing.
  • Increasing regulatory pressure to meet EU European Union (European Union ) Green Deal and sustainability goals.
  • Absence of consistent methodology for evaluating environmental impacts across the industry.

Goals

PHARMECO aims to advance sustainable practices in pharmaceutical manufacturing of small molecules, biologics and tides, as well as decontamination. It’s key objectives are:

  1. Integration of Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles in pharmaceutical manufacturing practices.
  2. Uptake of scalable, eco-friendly manufacturing optimisations and innovations in pharmaceutical manufacturing, focused on reducing greenhouse gases, solvent use, water, and energy consumption.
  3. Development of digital support tools for prospective evaluation to guide sustainable production via process simulation.
  4. Establish standardised environmental assessment systems for (bio)pharmaceuticals, ensuring consistency across the industry. 

Consortium

PHARMECO is a public-private partnership involving 31 international partners, 18 public and 13 private partners, with a broad representation across research institutions, government bodies, pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, as well as small and medium enterprises. Partners are based across 14 different countries. The project is coordinated by Ghent University.

RIVM role

RIVM is involved in Work Package 9, which concerns the communication and dissemination of results, as well as networking and engagement with stakeholders. 

RIVM is responsible for galvanising regulatory preparedness and acceptance towards greener pharmaceuticals, by raising awareness through dedicated workshops and developing evidence, guidance and policy briefing documents. This is expected to help decision-making and harmonisation at an EU level and beyond, and ultimately facilitate preparedness for sustainable pharmaceutical innovation.

RIVM’s Centre for Health Protection coodinates RIVM’s contribution resulting from a collaboration with the Centre for Safety of Substances and Products and the Centre for Sustainability, Environment and Health.  

Funding

This project is supported by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) under Grant Agreement No 101165889. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and COCIR, EFPIA, Europa Bío, MedTech Europe, and Vaccines Europe.