The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most innovation-driven sectors — and also one with great potential to reduce waste, energy consumption and the use of hazardous chemicals. Our pilot project explored three areas where modern green technologies can make the biggest impact:
• using enzymes to carry out chemical reactions in a greener way,
• reducing the use of rare and expensive metals, such as palladium,
• producing only the therapeutically active “mirror-image” form of a drug.
The results show that with the right approaches we can significantly reduce waste, lower costs and lessen environmental impact — while improving the quality and performance of medicines.
1. Why do we need greener processes in pharmaceutical production?
Most modern medicines are produced through long and complex chemical steps. Many of these rely on toxic reagents, large amounts of organic solvents, or processes that produce substantial chemical waste.
In addition, many drug molecules exist in two mirror-image forms (just like left and right hands). Often, only one of these forms has the desired therapeutic effect, while the other may be inactive or even cause side effects. Producing only the “right” one is therefore essential — both for patient safety and for the environment.
All of this calls for innovative and more sustainable technologies.
2. What did our pilot project explore?
a) Enzymes as natural green catalysts (UL & Servier)
The first pilot focused on using enzymes — nature’s own catalysts — to form chemical bonds that frequently appear in pharmaceuticals.
Enzymes offer several advantages:
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they work under mild temperatures,
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they require fewer hazardous chemicals,
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they often provide much better selectivity, which improves the quality of the final product.
Our goal was to discover in which conditions specific enzymes perform best and to prepare the foundation for future use in continuous-flow reactors, which generate even less waste.
Early results are very promising:
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selected enzymes accept a wide range of chemical building blocks,
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they perform well in gentle, environmentally friendly conditions,
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they show high selectivity — essential for efficient drug synthesis.
The next steps will include testing enzyme immobilisation and transferring the reaction into microreactors suitable for industrial use.
b) Using less palladium for cleaner and more efficient reactions (ELU & EGIS)
The second pilot examined chemical reactions that commonly rely on palladium, a valuable metal widely used in pharmaceutical manufacturing but costly and difficult to remove from the final products.
We explored how to:
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reduce the amount of palladium needed,
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improve the efficiency of catalyst systems,
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simplify purification,
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and lower production costs.
Our teams found catalyst combinations that allow for much lower palladium usage, while maintaining or improving reaction efficiency. For industry, this means cleaner processes, less waste and more sustainable production — without compromising the quality of active ingredients.
c) Producing only the effective “mirror-image” form of drug molecules (Zentiva & CU)
The third area focused on chirality — the property that gives some molecules two mirror-image forms with different biological effects.
We worked on two important active substances:
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S-Amlodipine, used for hypertension,
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S-Finerenone, used in cardiovascular and kidney-related conditions.
By improving the methods for obtaining only the therapeutically beneficial form, we can achieve:
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higher drug effectiveness,
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fewer side effects,
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lower material consumption,
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and reduced environmental residues.
For S-Finerenone, shifting the resolution step earlier in the synthesis significantly reduced energy and material use, making the entire process more economical and environmentally friendly.
3. What do these results mean for the future?
Our pilot demonstrates that pharmaceutical processes can be:
✔ more sustainable
✔ more cost-effective
✔ cleaner
✔ and better for public health and the environment
Industrial partners Servier, EGIS and Zentiva will integrate the outcomes into their development pipelines. This ensures that the innovations move directly into practice — where they can have the greatest real-world impact.
For Central Europe, this means:
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stronger regional competitiveness,
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more resilient pharmaceutical production,
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faster uptake of green technologies,
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and a clear pathway toward sustainable API manufacturing.
4. Looking ahead
The pilot project is just the first step. The results open up new directions for research and industrial development:
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advancing enzyme-based reactions,
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optimising low-metal catalyst systems,
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designing efficient methods for chiral drug production,
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and scaling these technologies for everyday pharmaceutical use.
Together, these developments support a future where pharmaceuticals are produced in a cleaner, smarter and more sustainable way, benefiting both industry and society.