There’s no better time than now to establish green chemistry as the method of choice for manufacturing drugs to combat widespread disease in low-income countries. Not only does the green chemistry approach prioritize sustainability, it can also be cost-effective, helping efforts “to improve the affordability of drugs in regions of the world where they are most needed.”
That’s according to UC Santa Barbara chemistry professor Bruce Lipshutz , who, in an opinion in the journal Trends in Chemistry , lays out his case for how going green in drug synthesis is a win-win situation.
“Going green always wins,” he said. “There isn’t a case known to mankind throughout the history of chemistry where going green has lost, in terms of economics; it’s just common sense.”