In 2016, the United Nations declared the need for urgent action to combat the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In support of this effort, the pharmaceutical industry has committed to measures aimed at improving the stewardship of antibiotics both within and outside the clinic. Notably, a group of companies collaborated to specifically address concerns related to antibiotic residues being discharged from manufacturing sites. In addition to developing a framework of minimum environmental expectations for antibiotic manufacturers, science‐based receiving water targets were established for antibiotics discharged from manufacturing operations. This paper summarizes the holistic approach taken to derive these targets and includes previously unpublished, company‐generated, environmental toxicity data.

For many older pharmaceuticals, chronic aquatic toxicity data are limited. To assess risk during development, scale-up, and manufacturing processes, acute data and physicochemical properties need to be leveraged to reduce potential long-term impacts to the environment. Aquatic toxicity data were pooled from daphnid, fish, and algae studies for 102 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to evaluate the relationship between predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) derived from acute and chronic tests. The relationships between acute and chronic aquatic toxicity and the n-octanol/water distribution coefficient (D OW ) were also characterized. Statistically significant but weak correlations were observed between toxicity and log D OW , indicating that D OW is not the only contributor to toxicity. Both acute and chronic PNEC values could be calculated for 60 of the 102 APIs. For most compounds, PNECs derived from acute data were lower than PNECs derived from chronic data, with the exception of steroid estrogens. Seven percent of the PNECs derived from acute data were below the European Union action limit of 0.01 mg/L and all were anti-infectives affecting algal species. Eight percent of available PNECs derived from chronic data were below the European Union action limit, and fish were the most sensitive species for all but 1 API. These analyses suggest that the use of acute data may be acceptable if chronic data are unavailable, unless specific mode of action concerns suggest otherwise.

The pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, via the AMR Industry Alliance, has developed and implemented steps to help minimize the potential impact of pharmaceutical manufacturing on the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). One of these steps was to publish predicted no‐effect concentrations (PNECs) to serve as targets for antibiotic manufacturing wastewater effluent risk assessments aimed to help protect environmental receptors and to mitigate against the spread of antibiotic resistance. Concentrations below which adverse effects in the environment are not expected to occur (PNECs) were first published in 2018 and are updated annually. The current list now stands at 125 antibiotics; however, it is recognized that this list does not encompass all manufactured antibiotics. Therefore, a statistical evaluation of currently available data was conducted and a default PNEC of 0.05 µg/L for antibiotics in the absence of other data was derived. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:863–867. © 2022 Merck, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc, F.Hoffmann‐La Roche Ltd, Teva Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis Pharma AG, and Pfizer lnc. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

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