A new policy brief brings together the expertise of five Horizon Europe projects to support a more sustainable pharmaceutical sector in Europe.
The pharmaceutical sector plays a vital role in protecting public health, but the production, use and disposal of medicines can also create significant environmental pressures. From resource- and energy-intensive manufacturing processes to pharmaceutical residues entering the environment, addressing these impacts requires a systemic approach across the entire pharmaceutical life cycle.
To contribute to this transition, ENVIROMED has joined forces with four other Horizon Europe projects — ETERNAL, IMPACTIVE, SusPharma and TransPharm — as part of the informal Green Pharma Cluster. Together, the projects have developed the policy brief “Towards a Green Pharmaceutical Future in Europe”, now available on Zenodo.
Read the policy brief on Zenodo
From research to policy
The policy brief translates the knowledge and evidence generated by the five projects into a shared set of policy recommendations aimed at supporting greater environmental sustainability across the pharmaceutical sector.
The document highlights the need to look beyond individual stages of the pharmaceutical value chain. Environmental considerations should be integrated throughout research and development, synthesis and manufacturing, process development, use and end-of-life management. This life-cycle perspective is essential for identifying opportunities to reduce environmental impacts while maintaining the quality, safety and effectiveness of medicines.
The recommendations also underline the importance of enabling innovation and the uptake of more sustainable technologies and approaches within the pharmaceutical sector. The objective is not to compromise patient safety or access to medicines, but to create the regulatory and policy conditions that allow environmental sustainability to become an integral part of pharmaceutical innovation.
Joining forces for a greener pharmaceutical sector
The Green Pharma Cluster demonstrates the value of collaboration between EU-funded research projects working on different aspects of pharmaceutical sustainability. By bringing together complementary expertise, the five projects have developed a common policy perspective and a stronger evidence base for future action.
The collaboration reflects a growing recognition that the environmental footprint of medicines cannot be addressed by one technology, organisation or stage of the value chain alone. Instead, progress requires coordinated action involving researchers, industry, regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders.
For ENVIROMED, contributing to this joint policy effort is an important step in ensuring that project knowledge reaches beyond the research community and can inform the development of a more sustainable European pharmaceutical ecosystem.
Supporting Europe’s green transition
The publication of Towards a Green Pharmaceutical Future in Europe comes at an important moment for European pharmaceutical policy. The EU’s Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe already aims to strengthen innovation, improve access to medicines and address strategic challenges affecting the pharmaceutical sector.
The Green Pharma Cluster adds an important environmental dimension to this agenda, highlighting opportunities to align public health, pharmaceutical innovation, environmental protection and European competitiveness.
The policy brief therefore represents not only a synthesis of research findings, but also a call for continued collaboration and policy action towards a pharmaceutical sector that is safe, innovative, resilient and environmentally sustainable.
ENVIROMED is proud to contribute to this joint effort and to support the transition towards a greener pharmaceutical future in Europe!
