Responsible production is essential to stop drug resistance from becoming unmanageable and to ensure that life-saving medicines do not cause unintentional harm to human health and the environment, according to a study by the Netherlands Foundation for Access to Medicines.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health threat, and a key driver of this resistance is the release of antibiotic waste into the environment. “By responsibly managing and disposing of antibiotic production waste, pharmaceutical companies can help fight antimicrobial resistance and limit its environmental impact,” the report said.
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China and India have a large number of factories involved in the production of antimicrobials, the nonprofit said. Marijn Verhoef, director of operations and research at the foundation, said companies with operations in India (those analyzed) have been stepping up their efforts to limit the risk of antimicrobial resistance in manufacturing. “In line with local policy, the company is firmly committed to zero liquid discharge (ZLD) at its owned and operated manufacturing sites, meaning no antibiotic waste is discharged into local waterways…. It is encouraging to see that Aurobindo, Companies such as Cipla, Viatris and Sun Pharma that have applied ZLD in India have reported not reusing any recycled water from these production sites in horticulture and horticulture,” he said.
He added: “In the absence of regulation to limit the discharge of antibiotics, a key challenge for companies is to work with their suppliers to ensure that the risk of AMR from manufacturing is limited throughout the supply chain.”
Promising moves are being made by a handful of companies surveyed, including Abbott, Centrient, Sandoz and Shionogi, the report said.
“Centrient, GSK, Pfizer and Shionogi reported that the majority of their upstream suppliers complied with discharge limits, showing how companies are transforming antibiotic supply chains.”
“During the production of antibiotics, the waste generated at the production site is often discharged into rivers and waterways. If the wastewater contains high levels of active pharmaceutical ingredients
(API), which pose a serious risk to the spread of antimicrobial resistance,” the report explained.
Pharmaceutical companies with market authorization for antibiotics are uniquely positioned to drive change across the antibiotic supply chain and can help transform the industry, the study says. “Not only can they prioritize responsible manufacturing at their own owned and operated manufacturing sites, but they have the ability to influence the standards and practices of the various third-party suppliers they contract with in the manufacture of life-saving medicines.”
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“Responsible production is one way to help prevent resistance from becoming unmanageable and to ensure that life-saving antibiotics are produced without unintentional harm to human health or the environment,” said CEO Jayasree K. Iyer. With the Fund meeting.
waste water management
Companies need to prioritize effective wastewater management practices to establish, quantify and monitor discharge limits to ensure wastewater safety at their production sites, the study said.
By implementing wastewater treatment processes at their production sites, Centrient and Shionogi showed that it is possible to achieve wastewater compliance prior to discharging wastewater, the report said, citing the example of Centrient, which was reportedly Sa’s factory has achieved this goal. Other approaches include Sandoz, which uses a membrane filtration process to remove bacteria from wastewater at its main antibiotic production site in Kündel, Austria.
Ensuring transparency and accountability across the antibiotic supply chain is critical, the study added. To date, overall transparency has been lacking, “while Centrient, GSK, Shionogi, Teva, and Viatris have publicly reported specific details of their waste management practices, only Shionogi has provided information on its antimicrobial manufacturing supply chain. Clarity. Crucially, no companies are currently reporting actual levels of antibiotic emissions from their own factories or those of their suppliers,” the study said.
“Stakeholders — including purchasers, investors and regulators — are already looking for pharmaceutical companies that can demonstrate their commitment to limiting antimicrobial resistance and environmental impact,” Verhoef said. The study cited Fresenius Kabi, Sandoz and Viatris, which were awarded bids as part of the Norwegian Hospital Procurement Agency’s Sustainable Pilot Procurement Program in 2019.
