EPHA, together with US consumer organisation SumOfUs and UK-based Ethical Consumer, has co-signed letters to some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, asking for information on their sources of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their production practices.
The recent report, ‘Bad Medicine‘ published by SumOfUs, provides the context for the letters. It exposes the fact that a number of large pharmaceutical companies are sourcing antibiotic ingredients from factories in China that are heavily polluting the environment through irresponsible waste disposal, thereby contributing to the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on a global level.
The letters (click here to see the template) were sent to the chief executive officers of 19 multinationals headquartered in Europe, the United States, Japan and Israel*.
Crucially, they deplore environmentally irresponsible production and sourcing practices, and they enquire whether the recipients are adhering to the industry’s (voluntary) Pharmaceutical Industry Principles for Responsible Supply Chain Management, which include assuming environmental responsibility. They call on the pharma industry to source responsibly as a moral imperative.
Specifically, the letters are asking pharmaceutical companies to:
– stop buying APIs from polluting factories and to ensure sufficient inspections and controls are put in place
– ensure full transparency across the supply chain; and
– promote cleaner production technologies
EPHA is looking forward to receiving the responses and will continue to work with its partners to scale up the links between the Global Supply Chain and AMR at the European level.
(*) The recipients of the letters are the following pharma companies: AbbVie, Allergan, AstraZeneca, Baxter, Bayer, Biogen, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Johnson&Johnson, Eli Lilly & Co., Mallinckrodt, McKesson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Takeda and Teva.
