Green chemistry: how enzymes and cleaner processes are changing API manufacturing
Biocatalysis and greener solvents cut steps and waste. The world’s leading drug makers are investing — and the tools are openly shared.
In this article
Making an active pharmaceutical ingredient can take many chemical steps, large volumes of solvent and a lot of waste. Green chemistry aims to do the same job with fewer steps and less waste — often by using enzymes as catalysts.
Biocatalysis in practice
Merck & Co. received a 2025 Green Chemistry Challenge Award for a biocatalytic process that replaces a multi-step route with a single enzyme cascade — its eleventh such award. The company says it has invested in biocatalysis for more than 25 years, including developing new enzymes.
An industry effort
The ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable, a partnership between global drug makers and the American Chemical Society, marked its 20th year in 2025. Its year in review reports:
| 2025 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Stakeholders engaged | 4,912 |
| Countries reached | 45 |
| Research grants | $480,000, eight projects from 266 proposals |
| Active focus teams | 21 |
Funded topics included greener catalysis, biocatalysis, manufacturing technologies and greener peptides. The Roundtable’s own 2025 awards went to Merck, Corteva, Pfizer and contract manufacturer Olon.
Tools anyone can use
The Roundtable publishes practical tools, including a Solvent Selection Guide and calculators for process mass intensity (PMI) — the total mass of materials used per kilogram of product, a simple measure of efficiency.
Why it matters for Pakistan
- Cost: fewer steps and less solvent mean lower production cost — important for new API plants.
- Environment: less effluent is easier to treat and permit.
- Exports: buyers increasingly ask about sustainability.
As Pakistan plans to make more APIs at home, building new plants around greener processes from the start is an opportunity. Process and environmental technology suppliers exhibit at Pharma Asia 2026.
