Biological engineering has emerged since the 1980s as one of the most efficient technologies to develop new medicines. The monoclonal antibody platform is the most widely used, representing about 15–20% of drug sales. Only scarce and partial monoclonal antibody life cycle assessments (LCAs) are reported. We estimate the cradle‐to‐pharmacy gate carbon footprint of monoclonal antibodies from the pharmacopeia on the market ( n = 103) using the full life cycle inventory of the medicines, encompassing antibody production, packaging production, transport, medicine manufacturing, and associated corporate emissions using a hybrid LCA/environmentally extended input–output model. Monoclonal antibody‐based drugs have an important carbon footprint with a mean of 169.7 kgCO 2 e/vial or prefilled syringe (95% CI 10.1–621.1) and 371.4 kgCO 2 e/month (95% CI 23.1–1,479.5) vs. 14.1 kgCO 2 e/month (95% CI 0.33–36.2) for an oral treatment. A large fraction of emissions is emerging from corporate emissions. The 95% CI surrounding these estimations is about ±35%. Among subparts, antibody production emissions largely vary from 7.1 to 20,206 kgCO 2 e/g of antibody (mean 472 kgCO 2 e/g, 95% CI 8.2–2,529), depending on the production scale. As an illustration, the carbon footprint of second‐line treatment options in rheumatoid arthritis ranges from 286 to 2,047 kgCO 2 e/year. In cancer immunotherapy, alternative weight‐adjusted dosing strategies lead to a 10–20% mitigation in greenhouse gas emissions, while “low‐dose” strategies may mitigate emissions by 2‐ to 10‐fold. Antibody‐based drugs have a significant carbon footprint, although highly variable. This database allows for a better understanding of the carbon footprint associated with these drugs, in order to better eco‐design care pathways.
Taillemite et al. (2026) studied this question.