Biotechnology company Step Pharma tracks the carbon footprint of its cancer treatment

In brief

• Step Pharma is an innovative company developing a new class of oral drugs to fight cancer.
• The treatment developed is currently in clinical trials (in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, etc.) for several therapeutic applications. The company employs seven people and subcontracts the manufacture of its treatments.
• Step Pharma initiated its climate action programme in 2021 at the instigation of one of its investors. Since then, Step Pharma has been measuring its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions every year, has integrated climate indicator monitoring by the Board of Directors and has trained part of its team in carbon accounting.

“Carbon Cutter’s support has enabled us to address the issue of our carbon footprint in a simple and effective way while remaining relevant.

Thanks to the cooperation of our subcontractors in the collection of data and the implementation of climate KPIs incorporating our yields, we can now accurately manage our greenhouse gas emissions.

Finally, the training provided by CarbonCutter allows our team to be self-sufficient in measuring our impact and progress each year.”

Nicolas Marsault — CFO, Step Pharma

Their challenge

Step Pharma wanted to be able to manage its greenhouse gas emissions and share its progress with its shareholders.

The company therefore wanted to carry out a carbon assessment and implement a plan to reduce and limit its future emissions.

Another specific aspect of the project was to identify a series of intermediate indicators (e.g. yield, distance travelled, etc.) to enable simplified operational monitoring of the company’s carbon performance.

Measuring the greenhouse gas emissions of a company such as Step Pharma is complex due to the specific nature of its business:

• the company uses many substances to produce its active ingredients and treatments. The lack of existing literature for each of the substances used makes it difficult to quantify the associated greenhouse gas emissions;
• the company outsources its production activities (active ingredients, formulation, packaging) and clinical trials (on a global scale), which complicates data collection.

Conducting a comprehensive carbon assessment for Step Pharma requires an excellent understanding of the company’s value chain, contacting numerous stakeholders to collect data, and finally identifying the appropriate emission factors.

The project

Carbon Cutter has been supporting Step Pharma since the beginning of its climate initiative.

During our initial assignment, we adopted a pragmatic and simplified approach, focusing on an initial assessment of the main sources of emissions in order to implement the first structural measures for the rest of the project.

We then carried out a precise measurement of all greenhouse gas emissions. We created tools tailored to each of the stakeholders involved (the company producing the active ingredient, the formulation company, the packaging company, and the company conducting the clinical trials) in order to collect all available physical data.

At the same time, we created a tool for measuring the life cycle analysis (single-criterion carbon LCA) of a drug and a clinical trial.

Following this project, we trained two members of the team in carbon accounting and created a data collection guide to enable them to measure their emissions independently.

Finally, when updating the carbon footprint, we empowered the two trained individuals to update the calculation themselves. We also verified the carbon footprint results for their annual presentation to investors.

The results

The various measurements of greenhouse gas emissions revealed:

1. The raw materials used in the manufacture of treatments that generate the most emissions. This new knowledge enables Step Pharma to take climate impact into account in its formulations when alternatives are available.
2. The distribution of emissions linked to clinical trials according to the characteristics and phase of these trials.
3. The correlation between the carbon footprint of the treatment and the efficiency of the manufacturing process. A more efficient process requires less energy and materials, and therefore generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Process efficiency has thus been identified as a relevant indicator. It is now monitored by Step Pharma’s board of directors and shareholders.

Team training, coupled with the provision of tools, has enabled Step Pharma to become self-sufficient in measuring its greenhouse gas emissions and monitoring climate indicators. The results of this approach are presented at least once a year to the board of directors and investors.