Greener Reaction Systems for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

To meet the global health challenges of the future and advance the goal of good health and well-being for all, the pharmaceutical industry must find ways to minimize the human health and environmental impacts of producing medicines. Conventional methods to produce synthetic medicines are solvent-intensive and often rely on hazardous substances leading to climate and pollution impacts across the pharmaceutical supply chain. There is therefore an urgent need for more sustainable synthetic methods in pharmaceutical manufacturing. This session will explore recent advances in alternative reaction systems that offer sustainability advantages over conventional solvent-intensive systems. Topics may include chemistry in water, biocatalysis, mechanochemistry, electrochemistry, and photochemistry. The session will focus on recent work to overcome practical challenges to applying these reaction systems in pharmaceutical manufacturing. In particular, speakers will highlight the vital role of analytical chemistry in confirming product integrity, purity, and waste stream assessment to enable implementation of these new and emerging technologies.

Session Organizers: Dan Bailey, Takeda; Nnamdi Akporji, Merck; Matt Osborne, AstraZeneca