Science With Purpose: Advancing Sustainability In Biopharma Testing

By Christina Leslie, Vice President, Corporate Sustainability & Operational Efficiency; and Chrissy Brunecz, Senior Scientist II

If your organization is trying to translate ESG commitments into actual lab-level changes, the gap between policy and practice is where most programs stall. This piece, authored by Christina Leslie (VP, Corporate Sustainability and Operational Efficiency) and Chrissy Brunecz (Senior Scientist II), walks through four initiatives that show what operationalizing sustainability actually looks like in a GMP biopharma testing environment.

The most substantive shift covered is the move from Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) to Recombinant Factor C (rFC) for bacterial endotoxin testing (BET). rFC eliminates horseshoe crab harvesting entirely, avoids false positives from beta-glucan interference, and is now compliant with USP <86> and Ph. Eur. 2.6.32. Separately, the Sievers Eclipse platform cuts LAL use by up to 90% and reduces labor time by 85%.

Beyond testing methods, walk-in incubators at the Lancaster site will retire 10 of 14 stand-alone units, meaningfully reducing energy load. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) revision in sample administration eliminated 11,000 sheets of paper per month, roughly 1 ton of CO2e annually. Three US sites have also earned My Green Lab (MGL) certifications across eight departments.

These aren't aspirational targets. They're implemented changes with measurable outcomes. Download now to evaluate which approaches are transferable to your own testing operations.