- Axplora’s Leverkusen site was awarded Platinum, with Le Mans receiving Gold, and Pompey and Chasse-sur-Rhône Silver in their first individual EcoVadis assessments.
- Recognition reinforces Axplora’s commitment to helping customers navigate increasingly complex supply chains with confidence through responsible, transparent and reliable manufacturing.
Axplora, a global CDMO Partner for complex small molecules and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), today announced that four of its European CDMO manufacturing sites have been recognised by EcoVadis, one of the world’s leading providers of business sustainability ratings.
The results demonstrate the significant progress made across the network while reinforcing the company’s commitment to responsible manufacturing with the transparency, reliability and operational excellence that customers increasingly expect from their CDMO partners.
The Leverkusen site emerged as a standout performer, achieving a Platinum rating with exceptional scores of 90/100 for Environment and 88/100 for Sustainable Procurement, placing the site among the top 1% of organisations assessed by EcoVadis.
The results are:
Leverkusen (Germany) – Platinum
Le Mans (France) – Gold
Pompey (France) – Silver
Chasse-sur-Rhône (France) – Silver
EcoVadis assesses organisations across four pillars: Environment, Labour & Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. As sustainability becomes an increasingly important consideration in supplier selection, the assessments provide customers with independent validation of Axplora’s commitment to responsible business practices.
Martin Meeson, Chief Executive Officer of Axplora, said: “Our customers are developing some of the world’s most innovative medicines and need partners they can rely on to help them navigate increasingly complex manufacturing challenges. These EcoVadis results demonstrate the progress we are making across our CDMO network to deliver the responsible, transparent and reliable manufacturing our customers expect.”
“These awards recognise far more than sustainability performance. They reflect the way our teams work every day—with curiosity, collaboration and a determination to help our customers overcome complex challenges. That mindset is what makes us a trusted partner and gives customers the confidence to move their most important programmes forward with Axplora.”
The achievements follow a year of collaboration between Axplora’s manufacturing sites and its Procurement and ESG teams to strengthen governance, enhance responsible sourcing and embed sustainability into day to-day operations. Across the network, this has translated into practical improvements that reduce environmental impact while improving operational efficiency.
At Leverkusen, for example, process optimisation on a large-scale manufacturing project reduced tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvent consumption by up to 70%—equivalent to around 45 tonnes of solvent and waste avoided each year. By redesigning distillation conditions through improved process development, the site has significantly reduced its environmental footprint with sustainable processes.
Every day, more than 2,000 Axplorers apply their expertise to help customers navigate complex manufacturing challenges and bring important medicines to patients around the world. Whether developing new processes, ensuring quality or operating manufacturing assets to support clients, every employee plays a role in delivering the reliability, transparency and partnership our customers depend on.
Françoise Durand-Rivoire, Global Head of ESG, said: “We are proud of these achievements, but we see them as another milestone rather than a destination. EcoVadis helps us measure our progress, but what really matters are the improvements taking place across our sites every day. Whether it is reducing solvent consumption, strengthening responsible sourcing or improving governance, these initiatives demonstrate how sustainability and operational excellence go hand in hand. By continuing to share best practices across our network, we will keep creating value for our customers, our employees and the communities in which we operate.”
These EcoVadis recognitions reflect more than strong sustainability performance. They demonstrate Axplora’s broader ambition to be the trusted partner that helps customers navigate complexity with confidence, combining scientific expertise, responsible manufacturing and a collaborative approach to bring life-changing medicines to patients faster.
“These awards recognise far more than sustainability performance. They reflect the way our teams work every day—with curiosity, collaboration and a determination to help our customers overcome complex challenges. That mindset is what makes us a trusted partner and gives customers the confidence to move their most important programmes forward with Axplora.”
About Axplora
Axplora is a trusted manufacturing partner to over 900 of the world’s leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies, formed from the integration of PharmaZell, Farmabios, and Novasep CDMO —three industry leaders with decades of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Axplora delivers high-quality, reliable, and sustainable solutions across the pharmaceutical value chain.
With deep capabilities in complex chemistry and industrial manufacturing combined with an agile, explorer’s mindset, Axplora supports pharmaceutical and biotech companies in developing and producing life-changing therapies. PharmaZell and Farmabios are renowned for their expertise in active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), highly potent compounds, and regulatory excellence, while Novasep CDMO is a leader in small molecule and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) manufacturing while being a pioneer in purification technologies.
Axplora operates 9 API manufacturing sites across Europe and India, providing multi-site capacity to partners worldwide.
For more information, visit www.axplora.com
