The global pharmaceutical industry experienced a 10% decline in the number of environmental sustainability-related patent applications in Q2 2023 compared with the previous quarter. The total number of environmental sustainability-related grants dropped by 40% in Q2 2023, according to GlobalData’s Patent Analytics. With an increasing focus on ESG, Pharmaceutical companies are under pressure to incorporate sustainability with suppliers playing a crucial role in the process. GlobalData’s ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Survey on Pharmaceutical Manufacturing – Towards a Sustainable Supply Chain report includes the ESG measures and response, and ESG Ratings of Pharmaceutical Companies as assessed by leading ESG rating agencies. Buy the report here.

Notably, the number of environmental sustainability-related patent applications in the pharmaceutical industry was 1,787 in Q2 2023, versus 1,977 in the prior quarter.

The top five companies accounted for 10% of patenting activity

Analysis of patenting activity by companies shows that Zhejiang University filed the most environmental sustainability patents within the pharmaceutical industry in Q2 2023. The company filed 63 environmental sustainability-related patents in the quarter, compared with 4 in the previous quarter. It was followed by Sun Yat-sen University with 40 environmental sustainability patent filings, Dalian University of Technology (30 filings), and China Petrochemical (26 filings) in Q2 2023.

Patenting activity was driven by China with a 44% share of total patent filings

The largest share of environmental sustainability related patent filings in the pharmaceutical industry in Q2 2023 was in China with 44%, followed by the US (35%) and Japan (10%). The share represented by China was 25% higher than the 19% share it accounted for in Q1 2023.

To further understand GlobalData's analysis on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) in Pharma – Thematic Research buy the report here.

This content was updated on 2 August 2023

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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.