Sustainable Solutions for Cell Culture Media: Krakatoa™ Environmental Impact and Life Cycle Assessment

Cellular therapies and other biologics are being touted as medicines of the future, and rightfully so. These therapies have already shown great promise for treating cancer and other serious diseases.[1] Like any large commercial entity, however, the pharmaceutical industry comes with a hefty environmental impact. In fact, the global pharmaceutical industry contributes more to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than the global automotive sector.[2] In 2021, the global pharmaceuticals market was worth $1.17 trillion, with a growth rate of 5.8% over the 2017 market value.[3] Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) and monoclonal antibodies (mAB) represent 40% of the product pipeline, outstripping small molecule products. As biologics, these products must be grown in large bioreactors, in sterile GMP grade liquid media that has a massive environmental footprint.