Queen Mary scientists seek to slash carbon footprint of medicine manufacturing through new bio-based solvents.

• A new British-based consortium aims to cut emissions by 60% compared to conventional fossil-derived solvents.
• Pharma's emissions per dollar of revenue are higher than the car industry. Solvents are a major culprit, but essential to making medicines.
• The consortium includes Exactmer, GSK, Queen Mary University of London, Atmospheric AI, Solve Chemistry, OXCCU, Celtic Renewables, University of Leeds, CPI, Croda, and Cytiva. The project is backed by £7m from Innovate UK and the Department of Health and Social Care.

Solvents are central to making medicines. They help mix ingredients, enable chemical reactions, purify the drug and control product quality. They are also highly polluting.

The production, use, and safe disposal of fossil-derived solvents create significant greenhouse gas emissions. It’s one reason why the pharma industry has higher carbon emissions per dollar of revenue than the car industry.

Now, a new industry-academic consortium seeks to reduce these emissions by 60%.

The goal is to develop bio-based solvents which could replace fossil-derived solvents by the 2030s. Bio-based solvents are made from renewable biomass, and so do not release fossil reserves as carbon dioxide.

Led by Exactmer, with strategic support from GSK, the British-based consortium also includes Queen Mary University of London, Atmospheric AI, Solve Chemistry, OXCCU, Celtic Renewables, University of Leeds, CPI, Croda, and Cytiva. The 36-month project is backed by £7m from Innovate UK and the Department of Health and Social Care. By bringing together key plays from pharma and chemical manufacturing and academia, the scientists intend to overcome the barriers which have scuppered previous efforts.

The biggest challenge is to achieve the high purity and moisture control needed for making medicines, without it being too expensive and energy-intensive to be commercially viable. Manufacturers could use thin filters called membranes to separate different molecules, but today’s membranes aren’t up to the job of producing pharma-grade bio-based solvents.

Scientists in the Livingston Lab at Queen Mary University of London will design and test new advanced membrane purification technologies capable of producing affordable, green, bio-based solvents at scale. This will allow manufacturers to replace fossil-derived solvents with bio-based solvents without needing major changes to their existing infrastructure or processes.

By working with industry partners, the team will validate bio-based solvents in existing medicines manufacturing for small-molecules and oligonucleotides; de-risk regulation pathways; and establish a supply chain for producing pharmaceutical-grade bio-based solvents.

Prof Andrew Livingston, Vice Principal for Research and Innovation at Queen Mary University of London, founder and CEO of Exactmer, and head of Queen Mary’s Livingston Lab, said:

“Projects like this are a prime example of how innovation can confront a major environmental issue which most people overlook, as well as promoting the growth in life sciences and advanced manufacturing that’s key to the government’s industrial strategy. The car industry is going electric, aviation is exploring hydrogen, now it’s pharma’s turn. Working together across industry and academia, with backing from government, is how we’ll make the impact our economy and planet needs.”

Contact our Business Development team to learn more about industry-academic partnerships with Queen Mary University of London.