The pharmaceutical sector is critical from a life‐saving perspective. However, it also poses significant environmental challenges due to large consumptions of non‐renewable materials and energy, as also extensive by‐product and waste generation. Addressing these issues is paramount, though surprisingly, research on it has largely been theoretical, fragmented and incomplete. These shortcomings are sought to be addressed in this work where a comprehensive green supply chain management (GSCM) framework for the sector is first developed through a systematic literature review. It is then empirically assessed and validated for UK's pharmaceutical sector through 47 interviews and analyses of 112 corporate environmental reports that covered all key stakeholders. Innovative and Bio‐pharma players were found to be at the forefront of the greening efforts with generic players lagging behind. High levels of solvent recycling, AI‐based drug design, and emphasis on Ecopharmacovigilance were observed for the Innovative players. The key drivers for greening were found to be regulatory pressures (e.g., f‐gas, ERA, IED) and cost saving potential, with their influence being particularly greater for the Innovative players. Similarly, complex marketing authorization process, high investment requirements, lack of green culture and time pressure were revealed as the key barriers to greening. On the downstream side, lack of environment‐related regulatory guidance on prescribing and contradictory regulatory guidance on disposing unused/expired drugs were identified as factors having a significant impact on the environmental loading of drugs. Overall, the study findings can help assess the green readiness of the sector, as also develop stakeholder‐specific policy interventions and support mechanisms to increase green adoption.

中文翻译：

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绿色制药供应链


从拯救生命的角度来看，制药行业至关重要。然而，由于不可再生材料和能源的大量消耗，以及大量的副产品和废物的产生，它也带来了重大的环境挑战。解决这些问题至关重要，但令人惊讶的是，关于它的研究在很大程度上是理论性的、碎片化的和不完整的。这项工作试图解决这些缺点，其中首先通过系统的文献综述为该行业制定了全面的绿色供应链管理 （GSCM） 框架。然后，通过对涵盖所有主要利益相关者的 112 份企业环境报告的 47 次访谈和分析，为英国制药行业进行实证评估和验证。研究发现，创新和生物制药公司处于绿色工作的最前沿，而仿制药公司则落后。在创新参与者中观察到高水平的溶剂回收、基于 AI 的药物设计和对生态药物警戒的重视。研究发现，绿化的关键驱动因素是监管压力（例如 f-gas、ERA、IED）和成本节约潜力，它们对创新参与者的影响尤其大。同样，复杂的营销授权流程、高投资要求、缺乏绿色文化和时间压力被认为是绿色化的主要障碍。在下游方面，缺乏与环境相关的处方监管指导和对处置未使用/过期药物的相互矛盾的监管指导被确定为对药物环境负荷有重大影响的因素。 总体而言，研究结果可以帮助评估该行业的绿色准备情况，还可以制定针对利益相关者的政策干预措施和支持机制，以提高绿色采用率。