Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), their metabolites, and transformation products often act as pollutants in the environment, impacting both human health and ecosystems. To tackle this issue, an efficient, long-term prevention strategy involves designing APIs with reduced environmental impact – greener APIs. This involves incorporating environmental parameters into the Research and Development (R&D) process. This article explores the feasibility of designing greener APIs, drawing insights from drug design experts in major research-based pharmaceutical companies.

The article "Design of greener drugs: aligning parameters in pharmaceutical R&D and drivers for environmental impact" published in Drug Discovery Today explores the challenges and opportunities in developing pharmaceuticals that are not only safe and effective for patients but also environmentally sustainable. This open access article – written by a cross-disciplinary team with representatives of universities, regulators, research-based pharmaceutical companies and SMEs – identifies the most promising areas for action in pharmaceutical research and development. It specifically aims to bridge the scientific concepts used by the expert communities in both environmental science and pharmaceutical R&D.

The PREMIER project aims to develop a comprehensive assessment system dedicated to characterizing the environmental risks of APIs, including their human metabolites and environmental transformation products. This innovative system is designed to fulfill several key objectives, including the screening and prioritization of existing APIs, identification of potential hazards linked to APIs in development, and the enhancement of accessibility to pertinent environmental data for all stakeholders.