TY - JOUR
T1 - Green pharma supply chain
T2 - a review of existing practices and future directions
AU - Belal, Md Mostain
AU - Shulka, Vinaya
AU - Ahmad, Salman
AU - Balasubramanian, Sreejith
PY - 2024/9/11
Y1 - 2024/9/11
N2 - Purpose - The pharmaceutical industry is facing significant pressure to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Other ecological, societal, and regulatory pressures are also driving the industry to ‘go green.’ While such a (green) transition could be possible through appropriate green practices’ implementation, present understanding about it is superficial and vague. A key reason is the lack of green practices’-related studies on pharmaceuticals, and which are also insufficiently comprehensive. This knowledge gap is sought to be addressed. Design/methodology/approach - A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted with seventy-three carefully selected articles then subjected to thematic content analyses for synthesising the relevant themes and sub-themes. Findings – Seventy-six operational-level green practices covering all key stakeholders across the drug lifecycle were identified. It was revealed that designing drugs having accelerated environmental degradability is important for combatting AMR, and that redesigning existing drugs is more resource-intensive than developing new ones with regards to enhancing eco-friendliness. Additionally, that there is considerable cost-saving potential in solvent recycling and flexible manufacturing, though both practices are not commonly used at present. With regards to green-related barriers, the stringent quality requirements for drugs, and therefore the risks in making green-oriented modifications in them, and the time-consuming and costly regulatory approvals were found to be the key ones.Practical Implications – The operational green practices’ framework developed for individual pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders could help practitioners in benchmarking, modifying, and ultimately, adopting green practices. The findings could also assist policymakers in reframing existing regulations such as Good Manufacturing Practices or GMP-related to promote greener drug development. Originality/value - This work is the first systematic attempt to identify and categorise operational-level green supply chain practices across stakeholders in the pharmaceutical sector.
AB - Purpose - The pharmaceutical industry is facing significant pressure to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Other ecological, societal, and regulatory pressures are also driving the industry to ‘go green.’ While such a (green) transition could be possible through appropriate green practices’ implementation, present understanding about it is superficial and vague. A key reason is the lack of green practices’-related studies on pharmaceuticals, and which are also insufficiently comprehensive. This knowledge gap is sought to be addressed. Design/methodology/approach - A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted with seventy-three carefully selected articles then subjected to thematic content analyses for synthesising the relevant themes and sub-themes. Findings – Seventy-six operational-level green practices covering all key stakeholders across the drug lifecycle were identified. It was revealed that designing drugs having accelerated environmental degradability is important for combatting AMR, and that redesigning existing drugs is more resource-intensive than developing new ones with regards to enhancing eco-friendliness. Additionally, that there is considerable cost-saving potential in solvent recycling and flexible manufacturing, though both practices are not commonly used at present. With regards to green-related barriers, the stringent quality requirements for drugs, and therefore the risks in making green-oriented modifications in them, and the time-consuming and costly regulatory approvals were found to be the key ones.Practical Implications – The operational green practices’ framework developed for individual pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders could help practitioners in benchmarking, modifying, and ultimately, adopting green practices. The findings could also assist policymakers in reframing existing regulations such as Good Manufacturing Practices or GMP-related to promote greener drug development. Originality/value - This work is the first systematic attempt to identify and categorise operational-level green supply chain practices across stakeholders in the pharmaceutical sector.
U2 - 10.1108/MEQ-08-2023-0249
DO - 10.1108/MEQ-08-2023-0249
M3 - Article
SN - 1477-7835
JO - Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal
JF - Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal
ER -