OBJECTIVES: As regulators push narratives promoting sustainable inclusion of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles within organizations, our research aims at investigating the relevance of these considerations within pharmaceutical procurement. A screening of tender award criteria unveiled buyers’ behaviors towards ESG in the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom).

METHODS: Quantitative research on contract award notices between 2011 and 2020 published in the European public procurement journal (TED) was performed. 82,749 lots and tenders with clearly specified award criteria were selected, targeting pharmaceutical products (33600000 CPV category). A statistical analysis of criteria trends was carried out, based on their prevalence and weighted average of their mentions.

RESULTS: Notices based on economic criteria only are the norm in Italy and Germany (85% and 97% respectively). France (92%), the UK (64%) and Spain (55%) promote mixed criteria, mainly technical and logistic. Prevalence of mixed criteria across the EU5 decreased from 70% in 2011 to 34% in 2020, while weight of economic considerations increased by 35%. Within the study period, average mentions of ESG criteria in all tenders never exceeded 7% in a single year. France (9%) and the UK (3.4%) showed the highest efforts in this attempt, while a late emergence of such considerations was captured in Spain (2.8%). ESG in Italian procurement reduced its presence to become almost absent (0.04%) and no mentions were identified in Germany.

CONCLUSIONS: EU5 pharmaceutical procurement decisions continue to be primarily driven by short term budget constraints, rather than longer term reflections around ESG. Governments and purchasing organizations are in the very early stages of establishing a necessary change in paradigm, with ESG criteria starting to be introduced but sporadically. However, more decisive efforts are certainly needed for these critical considerations to gain more routine relevance in procurement decision-making.