Clinical research is vital in determining the safety and effectiveness of innovative, life-saving therapeutics and diagnostics. However, clinical research also has a significant environmental impact. TFS HealthScience (TFS) released its 8th Annual Sustainability Report and shared its guiding principles, practices, and recognition for its efforts in sustainable clinical research.

Continue reading to discover how the pursuit of sustainable methodologies not only enhances environmental stewardship but also bolsters the integrity and efficiency of clinical trials.

 

Sustainability in Clinical Research 

Clinical research is vital in determining the safety and effectiveness of innovative life-saving therapeutics and diagnostics. However, clinical research also has a significant environmental impact, first recognized more than 15 years ago when the Sustainable Trials Study Group found that clinical trials contribute substantially to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly through energy use in research premises and air travel. In line with the Paris Agreement, the national health systems of Denmark and the U.K. have committed to decarbonization targets, while pharmaceutical companies are similarly working towards reducing their GHG emissions.  

 

Measuring the environmental impact of clinical research 

As researchers observed a gap in measuring the footprint of clinical research, efforts have been made to develop reliable methods to estimate the environmental impact of clinical trials, e.g., using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The LCA is a method for assessing the potential environmental impact of product systems, considering all processes related to the product life cycle and all relevant environmental impacts. Utilizing the LCA methodology, Mackillop et al. analyzed past trials, identified common carbon footprint drivers, and found that a typical Phase III trial results in significant carbon emissions2. LaRoche et al. used an LCA to measure the GHG emissions of a Phase I study and identified the most significant contributor of GHG emissions (51%) as the transport of people, including participants (31%), employees (15%) and clinical staff (5%) traveling from home to the clinical site or workplace.

With an evidence-based approach like LCA, sponsors, and contract research organizations (CROs) will be better informed of carbon footprint drivers and subsequently be able to develop climate change mitigation strategies. CROs like TFS HealthScience are committed to sustainability in clinical research without impacting data quality, integrity, and validity.  

TFS’s Commitment to Sustainability in Clinical Research 

TFS HealthScience is dedicated to the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and is proud of our progress in bringing them to life. The SDGs aim to promote sustainable development and address social, economic, and environmental challenges people worldwide face. As an organization committed to improving human health, TFS contributes to achieving the SDGs.

At TFS HealthScience, sustainability considerations are integral to our business activities. We are pleased to share the work we do every day to advance sustainability initiatives and the progress we made last year, thanks to the commitment and concerted efforts of our employees and other stakeholders. Our 8th Annual Sustainability Report, which covers January 1 to December 31, 2023, was released in April 2024.

Read the full sustainability report here.

 

TFS’s Guiding Principles 

In 2023, our network of 800 professionals conducted customized clinical research in over 40 countries, contributing to over 1,100 studies that involved more than 150,000 patients in 12,000 sites worldwide. Sustainability was a core consideration throughout the year and for every decision TFS made that affected thousands of our patients, partners, and other stakeholders globally. 

 

Table 1. Environment, Social, & Governance (ESG) Highlights from 2023 

Environment	Social	Governance
CDP Scoring  D to C  New travel booking platform and third-party calculation of CO2 emissions by ZeroMission for more comprehensive and accurate tracking of our carbon footprint	– 75% female and 25% male employees with a similar ratio at the management level  – 79% response rate in our employee engagement survey  – 8.1 Stable diversity and inclusion score  Improved on workload, equality, and  sustainability scores	– 29,898 training tasks completed to support regulatory compliance  – 1,037 hours logged to develop soft skills  – 4,424 courses completed to bolster IT security    Three new strategic partnerships to improve data quality and patient safety, reduce trial costs and health disparities, and expand our therapeutic expertise and  geographic reach    EcoVadis Silver rating, top 8% in 2023, 7% improvement from 2022

 

Living ESG at TFS 

Our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria ensure we advance clinical research responsibly and with lasting value.

TFS employees are the bedrock of our operations and success—both in research and in achieving our sustainability goals. The unique abilities of each employee and their invaluable, specialized knowledge, skills, and experience in clinical research prepare us in no small measure to embrace and address our sustainability goals. From climate change to social inequality and healthcare disparities, TFS plays a pivotal role in creating lasting solutions for a healthier, more equitable world. And we have the right people throughout the organization to help us achieve this.  

 

TFS’s Sustainability Practices

Involving our stakeholders 

Stakeholder engagement across the clinical research ecosystem is paramount to helping us shape, advance, and implement our ESG strategy. In this way, we prioritize the most significant issues that matter to us and our stakeholders—allowing us to address these issues more effectively and transparently. To this end, we engage with our clients, vendors, and suppliers; employees and contractors; regulatory authorities and ethics committees; and patients and advocacy groups.  

 

Identifying and focusing on priorities 

Our sustainability approach is informed by insights gathered from our ESG materiality assessment conducted in 2023. Internal stakeholder dialogues helped identify, understand, and prioritize the essential ESG topics critical to our organization’s business operations and strategy and their influence on society, the environment, and the climate change agenda. The assessment helped to align our efforts and focus our resources to achieve the most significant economic, environmental, and social impact.  

 

Navigating the ESG pillars 

Our sustainability approach is driven by our mission to be a trusted partner in clinical development and centered around the three ESG pillars. We proactively address issues across each pillar and focus on areas most critical to our stakeholders.

The social pillar in practice

• embraces and encourages diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) at all levels and at all times 
• upholds a zero tolerance towards discrimination 
• recognizes and supports our talent as the bedrock of our operations and success 
• encourages two-way street communication  
• nurtures employee engagement in various forms 
• invests in employee professional development 
• advocates for and prioritizes the health and well-being of employees 
• promotes health on the ground, including local health and well-being activities 
• engages with the community and forms partnerships to increase TFS impact  
• partners with industry associations 

 

Spotlight: A diverse TFS workforce  

From a social impact perspective, we focus on hiring and employing a diverse workforce in our countries. Our state-of-the-art recruitment practices ensure a less biased recruitment process, guaranteeing equal opportunities for candidates from diverse backgrounds. This is in line with TFS’s Code of Conduct Principle 6, which states that TFS eliminates discrimination with respect to employment and occupation.

The governance pillar in practice 

• prioritizes patient rights, patient safety, and data integrity 
• invests in systems and technologies that enable us to unify clinical operations, providing a single source of truth for data and documentation and minimizing our ecological footprint 
• protects our patients and is committed to ethics, integrity, and conducting clinical trials transparently 
• emphasizes quality assurance (QA) and control in clinical research through, e.g., using a validated 21CRF Part 11 compliant MasterControl as our cloud-based software platform and Quality Management System (QMS). 
• complies with laws and regulations and fosters a culture of integrity, accountability, and transparency 
• prioritizes data privacy and security 
• integrates ESG considerations into the risk management framework 
• drives sustainable clinical trials by combining robust technology and strategic partnerships 

 These governance pillar practices reaffirm TFS’s commitment to ethical conduct, regulatory compliance, and protecting the rights and confidentiality of study participants and clients’ proprietary information. These practices are also aligned with Principle 10 of the TFS code of conduct, which states TFS works against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

 

Spotlight: Adopting medidata detect

 TFS invested in Medidata Detect, a comprehensive automated data surveillance and risk monitoring solution that improves data quality and promotes patient safety in clinical trials. TFS is the first CRO to adopt Medidata Detect technology for its clients. 

 

Spotlight: Our revolutionary partner in clinical trials 

To accelerate our clinical trials, improve patient outcomes, and reduce health disparities, we have partnered with PINC AITM Applied Sciences (PAS), which has AI-enabled technology and a comprehensive healthcare database to expedite site and patient enrollment, reduce trial costs, and speed up commercialization.  

 

Spotlight: Expanding our expertise 

Through our strategic acquisition of Appletree CI Group in 2023, we enhanced our company’s existing expertise in the complex fields of ophthalmology, dermatology, medical devices, and pediatric studies while simultaneously expanding our geographic reach for clients.  

 

Spotlight: Clinical trials for all 

TFS is a proud partner of Clinical Trials for All, “a non-commercial initiative to increase global clinical trial participation by educating patients and caregivers about the opportunities and advantages of research as care.”  

 

The environment pillar in practice – conducting sustainable business 

TFS environmental policy: 

• serves as our guiding framework for managing our environmental impacts and promoting environmental sustainability 
• articulates our goals, objectives, and strategies for minimizing adverse environmental effects, conserving natural resources, and complying with relevant environmental laws and regulations 
• helps establish a culture of environmental responsibility, compliance, and sustainability across all levels of our organization.

TFS sustainable procurement:

• policies and practices to support responsible, sustainable, and ethical environmental practices outside of our organization 
• requires working with vendors that align with our values and standards for environmental sustainability.

Our environmental focus areas:

• Energy-efficient offices 
• Reduced business travel 
• Eco-friendly Procurement

Principle 8 of the TFS Code of Conduct states that TFS undertakes initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility. The initiatives below, including the travel booking platform, GHG emissions, Carbon Disclosure Project scoring, science-based emission targets, and a silver rating from EcoVadis, are aligned with Principle 8.  

 

Spotlight: Travel booking platform 

TFS invested in a new travel booking platform, EgenciaTM, and started working with a third party, ZeroMission, to better track, assess, and report on our carbon emissions—progressing toward setting clear targets to combat climate change. 

 

Spotlight: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 

In 2023, TFS calculated our GHG emissions in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard for the first time. Moving forward, we will be able to showcase our progress in this area and report more comprehensively on the various sources of emissions.  

 

Spotlight: Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) scoring improvement 

TFS has improved its Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) scoring from ‘D’ to ‘C,’ showcasing enhanced efforts in environmental impact management. The CDP is a global nonprofit that runs the world’s leading environmental disclosure platform.  

 

Spotlight: Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) 

TFS is engaged in setting science-based emissions targets through the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for 2025. 

 

Spotlight: Silver Rating from EcoVadis 

In 2023, TFS announced that for the fourth consecutive year, it received a Silver Rating from EcoVadis, the world’s leading provider of business sustainability ratings. This distinction reinforces TFS’s ongoing commitment to driving corporate sustainability goals and positively impacting the health sciences sector with robust sustainability performance. 

 

TFS Walking the Talk 

TFS HealthScience is a global CRO that partners with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies throughout their clinical development journey. Our network of over 800 professionals conducts customized clinical research in 40+ countries, offering comprehensive clinical development services, strategic resourcing, and functional solutions.

In our ongoing commitment to sustainability, we will continue to walk the talk, seamlessly integrating environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and ethical governance into our operations. We embrace our responsibility to minimize the impact of our activities on people and the environment. Through innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement, we will keep striving to create a positive impact and a more sustainable, healthier, and equitable future.

Would you like to learn more about how TFS can help you deliver your next clinical trial?

Contact us today to start the conversation!