SECTORS / GICS-352020

Pharma Manufacturing · Pharmaceutical Manufacturing & Drug Development

← all sectors

Pharma firms blend energy-intensive manufacturing (cleanrooms, sterilisation, fermentation) with a heavy upstream API supply chain and cold-chain logistics. For inhaler-makers, propellant emissions are also material.

Companies tracked
5
Phase 2 cohort
With SBTi target
0/ 5
0% coverage
Median operational intensity
153.75tCO2e / $m OpEx
from 3 firms · USD-normalised
Reporting years
2020–2025
latest disclosed per firm
SBTi coverage
0%of 5 firms

Where this sector sits globally

Median operational intensity (Carbon / USDm OpEx) per sector · log scale · click any dot to switch
8 sectors · this sector 153.7
10
100
1.0k
10k
↑ Pharma Manufacturing (n=3) · 153.75
← cleanest: Consulting (29.6)dirtiest: Real Estate Services (2.4k) →
Key carbon drivers
  • Manufacturing operations
    Cleanrooms, sterilisation, fermentation, lyophilisation. Tight HVAC tolerances mean energy intensity per m² is high.
    Scope 1 + 2
  • Active pharmaceutical ingredients
    API synthesis is energy- and solvent-intensive; often imported from India/China where grid carbon is higher.
    Scope 3 · cat 1
  • Cold-chain logistics
    Refrigerated transport for biologics + vaccines. Refrigerant leaks (HFCs) compound the energy cost.
    Scope 3 · cat 4
  • R&D laboratories
    Lab energy intensity per FTE is 5-10× a typical office (ULT freezers, fume hoods, PCR).
    Scope 1 + 2
  • Inhaler propellants
    MDI propellants are HFCs with very high GWP — material for AstraZeneca, GSK, Teva, etc.
    Scope 3 · cat 11 (use of sold products)
Scope references follow the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard + Scope 3 Standard.
Reference transition plan
SBTi 1.5°C corporate + PSCI + My Green Lab

No pharma-specific SBTi pathway yet. Most majors align via SBTi general 1.5°C corporate targets. PSCI (Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative) drives upstream supplier engagement. My Green Lab certifies lab-energy reduction.

Methodology
MethodologyWhy facilities + supply chain matter for pharma
Manufacturing sites and labs run 24/7 at tight environmental tolerances — cleanroom HVAC alone can dominate Scope 1+2. Active pharmaceutical ingredients (Scope 3 cat 1) are typically synthesised in India and China where grid carbon is high. Per-revenue intensity hides facility-level differences.

Sector benchmarks · headline intensities

Per-company latest year · USD-normalised at 12-month average rates · snapshot 2026-05-05
5 firms in cohort

Each strip shows where every firm in the cohort sits on one intensity axis. Lower is better — left of the strip is best, right is worst. Each peer dot tooltips its value and the year it came from. Financial denominators are converted to USD before computing so cross-currency comparisons are apples-to-apples.

Revenue intensity

Carbon / USDm revenue
n=3 · median 105.30 · IQR 89.06–133.47 · years 2023–2024
0.00
25
51
76
102
127
152
178
median 105.30

Operational intensity

Carbon / USDm OpEx
n=3 · median 153.75 · IQR 126.02–195.06 · years 2023–2024
0.00
37
74
111
149
186
223
260
median 153.75

Economic intensity

Carbon / USDm EVIC
n=3 · median 21.46 · IQR 15.72–21.90 · years 2023–2024
0.00
3.5
7.0
11
14
18
21
25
median 21.46

Asset intensity

Carbon / USDm PP&E + leased
n=3 · median 284.15 · IQR 268.03–355.65 · years 2023–2024
0.00
67
134
201
268
336
403
470
median 284.15

Companies · 5 firms

+ Add company
RVB IDCompanyTickerSubtypeHQRevenueOperationalEconomicAssetSources
RVBA-ASTRAAstraZenecaAZNDrug Manufacturers - GeneralUnited Kingdom————
SBTiCDPReport
RVBA-ELACEli Lilly and CompanyLLYDrug Manufacturers - GeneralUnited States161.65236.369.99427.15
SBTiCDPReport
RVBA-GSKGSKGSKDrug Manufacturers - GeneralUnited Kingdom————
SBTiCDPReport
RVBA-MERCKMerck & CoMRKDrug Manufacturers - GeneralUnited States105.30153.7522.35284.15
SBTiCDPReport
RVBA-PFIZEPfizerPFEDrug Manufacturers - GeneralUnited States72.8298.2921.46251.92
SBTiCDPReport

Reference carbon factors · Pharma Manufacturing

Authoritative benchmark factors curated from published sources. Citation-anchored · pre-pilot vintage · refreshed manually as new releases land.

Below sit every reference factor relevant to a pharma manufacturing firm. Use these as starting points when you need to estimate emissions for a category the cohort doesn't disclose, or to spot-check disclosed figures against the consensus range. Each value is anchored to the published source — click any source slug to open the citation.

No carbon-factor reference set built yet for Pharma Manufacturing.

Sectors currently populated: management consultancy, cloud infrastructure, marketing & advertising, IT hardware laptops, agriculture (tea / dairy / eggs). To add a sector, map the procurement category inweb/src/lib/carbon-factors/procurement-to-industry.ts.