The pharmaceutical industry has long been associated with high energy consumption and waste. In response, Innovate UK, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), has launched a new initiative aimed at promoting sustainable practices in the manufacturing of medicines. This £15 million program, opening for applications with a deadline of 16th October 2024, is set to drive innovation and greener technologies across the pharmaceutical sector.
The aim of this competition is to drive innovation in sustainable medicines manufacturing across three key pillars:
• green chemistry
• circularity
• productivity and resource efficiency
Projects must also consider both critical enablers:
• regulations: how to overcome any regulatory barriers to adoption of your innovation.
• measurements, standards and data: approaches to capture data that support the measurement and reporting of sustainability indicators aligned with industry standards.
These new manufacturing innovations are expected to support more environmentally sustainable manufacturing processes with significant and measurable improvements in at least one of the following areas:
• productivity
• waste reduction
• emissions reduction
• energy use reduction
• resource efficiency
Funding must be used to invest in innovation to deliver across four key goals:
• drive disruptive and novel technologies or processes in medicines manufacturing to optimise production efficiency, minimise waste and reduce emissions, aligning with global sustainability goals
• facilitate the effective implementation of innovative solutions and promote their adoption across the medicines manufacturing sector, ensuring scalability and widespread utilisation
• enhance the UK’s attractiveness as a prime location for investment in medicines manufacturing, thereby stimulating economic growth and enhancing resilience in the sector
• strengthen the UK’s manufacturing innovation ecosystem through collaborative partnerships between academia, industry, and government entities, promoting knowledge exchange and collaborative initiatives to enhance sustainable manufacturing practices
Projects must also consider how to overcome any regulatory barriers to adoption of the innovation, alongside approaches to capture data that support the measurement and reporting of sustainability indicators aligned with industry standards. By fostering collaboration between researchers, innovators, and manufacturers, this initiative hopes to accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge solutions that can be implemented quickly. The aim is to see tangible impact within three years of project completion, meaning that the results of these investments should be felt before the end of the decade.
Innovators interested in applying for the funding will have the opportunity to develop and commercialise technologies that can significantly transform medicine manufacturing processes while contributing to broader environmental goals.
