YewMaker
YewMaker builds AI-driven tools that standardise medicine carbon footprints across more than 30,000 products. Led by Dr Nazneen Rahman, the London-based company operates the Sustainable Medicines Partnership of 48 organisations and is primarily NHS grant-funded.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What YewMaker does
YewMaker is a London-based, privately held company that builds science-based solutions to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of medicines. Founded by Dr Nazneen Rahman (CEO), the company operates the Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP), a not-for-profit, public-private action collaborative of 48 organisations spanning pharma manufacturers, generics, retail, distributors, supply chain, technology providers, healthcare providers, hospitals, pharmacy, academia, and policymakers. Its flagship technology is MCF Classifier, an AI-driven data suite that estimates the cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of active pharmaceutical ingredients by combining molecular weight, chemical structure, and Process Mass Intensity (PMI) into standardised emissions ratings (LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH/VERY HIGH), compliant with GHG Protocol, PAS, and ISO standards. The MCF Method has been published in peer-reviewed journals (British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology; BMJ Open; Journal of Climate Change and Health).
The company's product surface includes the free MCF Formulary web application (per-dose ratings for over 4,000 medicines), the MCF Product Dataset (CO2e values for over 30,000 products on Zenodo), the MCF API Dataset, and research outputs such as the 'Every Dose Used' Playbook and Sustainable Blister Packaging Eco-Design Report. YewMaker serves healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, policymakers, and researchers, but does not monetise its core products commercially; instead, development has been supported by NHS pilot and SBRI Healthcare grants (totalling approximately £730K disclosed across 2022 and 2023). The current headcount is 1-10 employees, indicating an early-stage, mission-driven operating model reliant on grant funding and the multi-stakeholder SMP network for distribution.
YewMaker firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- YewMaker
- Legal name
- YewMaker
- Website
- https://yewmaker.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- YewMaker builds AI-driven tools that standardise medicine carbon footprints across more than 30,000 products. Led by Dr Nazneen Rahman, the London-based company operates the Sustainable Medicines Partnership of 48 organisations and is primarily NHS grant-funded.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
YewMaker industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Healthcare Sustainability Analytics
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Emissions Factors, LCA & Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) Platforms (EUABAEAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Enterprise Carbon Accounting & GHG Inventory Platforms (EUABAEAA), ESG/Sustainability Reporting & Disclosure Platforms (EUABAEAB)
Keywords
Where YewMaker is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
YewMaker business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Grant Funding / SBRI Healthcare: YewMaker has received NHS funding (£730K from Accelerated Access Collaborative through SBRI Healthcare) and pilot funding to build MCF Classifier as user-friendly software supporting carbon-informed medicines use.
- Free Thought Leadership & Product Suite: Core products including MCF Formulary, datasets, eBooks, and playbooks are offered free of charge as educational resources to drive adoption of sustainable medicines practices. Revenue model appears grant-funded rather than commercial at this stage.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free access to all core products |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
YewMaker product offering
Product offeringCore offering
YewMaker builds science-based software to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of medicines. Its flagship product, MCF Classifier, is an AI-driven data suite that produces standardised cradle-to-gate carbon footprint ratings for active pharmaceutical ingredients. The MCF Formulary web app and MCF Product Dataset make these ratings accessible to healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and researchers, supporting carbon-informed prescribing, procurement, and ESG reporting. YewMaker also operates the Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP), a 48-organisation multi-stakeholder action collaborative executing a four-year programme to reduce medicine waste.
Product overview
YewMaker offers a suite of science-based healthcare sustainability products centered around the MCF Classifier platform. The core offering includes MCF Classifier—an AI-driven data suite for medicine carbon emissions—comprising the free MCF Formulary web application for browsing over 4,000 medicine carbon ratings, the MCF Product Dataset covering 30,000+ medicine products, and the MCF API Dataset for programmatic access. Complementing the data platform, YewMaker leads the Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP), an action collaborative of 48 organizations, and produces thought leadership content including the 'Every Dose Used' Playbook, Sustainable Blister Packaging Eco-Design Report, and peer-reviewed research papers on medicine carbon footprints and decarbonization strategies.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- MCF Classifier AI-driven data suite that produces standardised cradle-to-gate carbon footprint ratings (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH, VERY HIGH) for medicines, compliant with GHG Protocol, PAS, and ISO standards and grounded in Process Mass Intensity.
- MCF Formulary Free interactive web application providing searchable per-dose carbon footprint ratings for over 4,000 medicines, aimed at healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and supply chain professionals.
- MCF Product Dataset Comprehensive dataset containing MCF Ratings and CO2e values for more than 30,000 medicine products, distributed via the Zenodo open data repository with DOI.
- MCF API Dataset API-formatted dataset for medicine carbon footprint data, distributed via Zenodo for programmatic access by researchers and analysts.
- Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP) A not-for-profit, public-private, multi-stakeholder global action collaborative of 48 organisations executing a four-year programme to reduce waste of medicines and waste from medicines.
Quantifiable outcome
- 140,000 tonnes CO2e total footprint for 2.2 billion NHS England prescribed doses analysed (January 2023)
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use YewMaker
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
YewMaker technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature5 records
YewMaker partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
29 partnerships are on record, tiered major, flagship and core.
- AHSN (Academic Health Science Network)majorCollaborator on MCF Classifier project. National NetZero Lead Pete Waddingham led the MCF Classifier webinar. AHSN network supports adoption of innovation across the NHS.
- University Hospital Plymouth NHS TrustmajorCollaborator on MCF Classifier project, providing clinical and operational insights for carbon-informed medicines use.
- Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP) - 48 Collaborating OrganisationsflagshipSMP is a not-for-profit, public-private, multi-stakeholder global action collaborative of 48 organisations executing a four-year programme to reduce waste of medicines and medicines packaging. Includes pharma, generics, retail, distributors, supply chain, technology, healthcare, hospitals, pharmacy, academia, and policymakers.
- Walgreens Boots AlliancemajorWalgreens Boots Alliance joined the SMP as a collaborator. Major retail pharmacy operator bringing pharmacy, healthcare delivery, and supply chain expertise to sustainable medicines initiatives.
- AstraZenecamajorAstraZeneca participated in the SMP Founders Launch Event and Reuters Events webinar on sustainable medicines. Founding industry partner of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (with CPI and GSK). Committed to sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing.
- GSKmajorGSK is a founding industry partner of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (with CPI and AstraZeneca). Collaborates with SMP on sustainable medicines manufacturing, distribution, and disposal life cycles.
- DeloittemajorDeloitte partnered with SMP for the Reuters Events webinar on delivering meaningful change in sustainable medicines. SMP showcased at a Deloitte-sponsored panel. Deloitte published thought leadership on embedding environmental sustainability into pharma's DNA.
- PfizermajorPfizer participated in the SMP Founders Launch Event and Reuters Events expert panel on sustainable medicines alongside AstraZeneca and Deloitte.
- Consilient HealthcoreConsilient Health joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Medium-sized pharmaceutical company focused on women's health, endocrinology, bone health, and urology. Working across SMP projects to reduce carbon footprint and waste of medicines by providing data, practical insights, and expertise.
- HaleonmajorHaleon (LSE: HLN) joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Global leader in consumer health with brands trusted by millions globally. Sustainability ambitions include reducing virgin petroleum-based plastic use by 10% by 2025 and 1/3 by 2030. Focuses on recycling and integrating rejected content into blister packs.
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH)coreGOSH joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. A world-leading children's hospital and the first London Hospital to declare a Climate Emergency. Provides sustainable healthcare provider expertise and piloting insights for medicines sustainability.
- Telesofia MedicalcoreTelesofia Medical joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Developer of a patient engagement platform using patented personalised video technology. Supports the Digitising Medicines Information Project, leveraging an existing library of videos for over 11,000 medication products to reduce leaflet printing.
- ABPI (Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry)majorABPI joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Represents research-based pharmaceutical companies in the UK. Collaborating on reducing single-use plastics in medicines packaging and increasing digital medicines information.
- PAGB (Proprietary Association of Great Britain)corePAGB joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Represents manufacturers of branded OTC medicines, self-care medical devices, and food supplements in the UK. Facilitates engagement with members on inclusive, accessible digital medicines information development.
- BGMA (British Generic Manufacturers Association)coreBGMA joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Represents the UK generic medicines industry which saves the NHS £15 billion annually via competition. Represents and facilitates engagement with members on projects to reduce environmental impact of medicines manufacture, packaging, distribution, and destruction.
- GS1 HealthcarecoreGS1 Healthcare joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Neutral, not-for-profit global organisation developing the most widely used supply chain standards system. Provides expertise on using global standards to create visibility of every step of the medicines lifecycle from manufacture to patient, crucial for minimising wastage and improving accessibility.
- CPI (Centre for Process Innovation)majorCPI joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Accelerates development, scale-up and commercialisation of deep tech and sustainable manufacturing solutions including next-generation medicine manufacturing. Home to the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in collaboration with CPI, University of Strathclyde, AstraZeneca, and GSK.
- NW Greener NHSmajorNW Greener NHS joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Part of NHS England North West regional team, one of seven regional teams delivering the Greener NHS Programme. Supports projects to measure medicine carbon footprints and identify opportunities for optimising medicines use across 32 NHS Trusts.
- Veterans Health Administration 'VIONE'coreVHA VIONE Team joined as SMP Collaborator. VHA is the largest integrated Health Care System in the USA with over 1,298 medical facilities. VIONE is a medication optimisation and polypharmacy reduction programme that has deprescribed over 1 million potentially inappropriate medications, achieving $94 million cost avoidance.
- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustcoreNewcastle Hospitals joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. One of the UK's largest NHS Trusts with ~17,000 staff and 1.8 million patient contacts per year. First healthcare organisation in the world to declare a Climate Emergency. Provides sustainable healthcare provider expertise to inform and develop medicines sustainability solutions.
- nVenticcorenVentic joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Specialist inventory optimisation company using advanced mathematical techniques. Leverages analytical capabilities to support frameworks for improving medicine availability and reducing excess inventory that gets destroyed. Expert on pharmaceutical inventory write-offs.
- PA ConsultingmajorPA Consulting joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Innovation and transformation consultancy working across the healthcare and life sciences ecosystem. Applying pharma and sustainability expertise and capabilities to SMP projects, working with like-minded collaborators to deliver a more sustainable future.
- Liveo ResearchcoreLiveo Research joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Leading global manufacturer of films and foils for pharmaceutical blister packaging, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Supports research and pilots in advanced recycling of pharmaceutical blister packaging and maximising shelf life of medicines.
- DatapharmcoreDatapharm joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Healthcare technology company providing the emc medicines information website with 145 million+ views annually. Supports the Digitising Medicines Information Project with insight into electronic patient information leaflet adoption.
- myHealthboxcoremyHealthbox joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Leading provider of digital solutions making information on medicines more accessible. Supports the Digitising Medicines Information Project; eLeaflet solution is the first electronic Product Information platform for creation, validation and distribution of digital leaflets for medicines.
- Sustainable Healthcare CoalitioncoreSustainable Healthcare Coalition joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Not-for-profit healthcare sector group created by NHS England to inspire sustainable practices. Fiona Adshead (SHC Chair) also joined SMP Executive team as Senior Policy Lead.
- Jones Healthcare GroupcoreJones Healthcare Group joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Global provider of advanced packaging and medication dispensing solutions with over a century of regulated healthcare packaging expertise. Developing multi-platform frameworks including digital-first prototypes for medicines information and sustainable packaging innovations.
- AgilyxcoreAgilyx (Euronext Growth Oslo: AGLX) joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. Technology company enabling customers to recycle difficult-to-recycle post-use plastics. Focus on enhancing medicines packaging sustainability; approximately 1 trillion medicine packets are thrown away each year.
- World Packaging Organisation (WPO)coreWPO joined as SMP Founding Collaborator. A non-profit global federation of national packaging institutes promoting education and excellence in packaging. Endorses SMP Awards within the WorldStar Packaging Awards programme.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
YewMaker competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Sphera: Enterprise ESG and product sustainability software platform covering GHG inventories, Scope 3, and product carbon footprints across industries. Comparable to YewMaker as a broad-based carbon/LCA software incumbent that any pharma counterparty could choose over MCF Classifier.
- South Pole Group: Large climate consultancy and solutions provider running corporate decarbonization programmes across pharma and healthcare. Comparable as an established incumbent that incumbent pharma companies typically engage for sustainability programmes that YewMaker is also targeting.
- Carbon Trust: Sustainability consultancy and product carbon footprint certifier working extensively with pharma and FMCG companies. Comparable as a credible alternative pathway for procurement of PCF/LCA services in the medicines sector.
- Workiva: Cloud platform for ESG and sustainability disclosure reporting aligned to CSRD, SEC and other regimes. Comparable as a competing destination for pharma ESG reporting budgets and as a potential channel/distribution risk if it integrates carbon product data.
Direct peers
- Ecochain: Cloud-based LCA and product carbon footprint platform used by consumer goods and pharmaceutical manufacturers to model cradle-to-gate footprints. Directly comparable to MCF Classifier on the product carbon footprint / emissions-factor methodology that YewMaker applies to medicines.
- PRé Sustainability (SimaPro): Developer of SimaPro, a long-established professional LCA software platform used globally for product carbon footprinting and life cycle assessment. Comparable as an alternative tool path for pharma manufacturers who need standardized PCF calculation rather than a verticalized formulary view.
Emerging players
- Persefoni: AI-enabled climate management and accounting platform for enterprise Scope 1–3 emissions. Comparable as a newer-generation carbon accounting platform that could be extended into pharma-specific product footprints.
- Watershed: Enterprise carbon accounting platform focused on measurement, reporting and reduction. Comparable as a competing platform pharma ESG teams might procure instead of building on MCF Classifier data.
- My Green Lab: Non-profit focused on laboratory and life-science sustainability, with programmes overlapping healthcare R&D decarbonization. Comparable as an adjacent healthcare sustainability ecosystem player with whom YewMaker could partner or by which it could be supplanted in life-science settings.
Others
- Sustainable Healthcare Coalition: NHS-convened healthcare sector coalition driving sustainable practices across providers and suppliers. Already a SMP collaborator; relevant because it is the natural policy/thought-leadership peer and an obvious go-to-market partner or overlap area for YewMaker's mission.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
YewMaker social profiles
Digital presenceYewMaker financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
YewMaker leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
YewMaker funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
YewMaker M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about YewMaker
What does YewMaker do?
YewMaker builds science-based software to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of medicines. Its flagship product, MCF Classifier, is an AI-driven data suite that produces standardised cradle-to-gate carbon footprint ratings for active pharmaceutical ingredients. The MCF Formulary web app and MCF Product Dataset make these ratings accessible to healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and researchers, supporting carbon-informed prescribing, procurement, and ESG reporting. YewMaker also operates the Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP), a 48-organisation multi-stakeholder action collaborative executing a four-year programme to reduce medicine waste.
Is YewMaker a public or private company?
YewMaker is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was YewMaker founded?
YewMaker was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is YewMaker based?
YewMaker is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does YewMaker make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Grant Funding / SBRI Healthcare is the primary driver. The others are free Thought Leadership & Product Suite.
Who are YewMaker's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Sphera, South Pole Group, Carbon Trust and Workiva. Direct peers are Ecochain and PRé Sustainability (SimaPro). Emerging players are Persefoni, Watershed and My Green Lab. Sustainable Healthcare Coalition is listed as an others.
Does YewMaker have an API?
No public API is recorded for YewMaker.
What industry is YewMaker in?
YewMaker's product category is Healthcare Sustainability Analytics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUABAEAD, Emissions Factors, LCA & Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) Platforms, with a secondary code of EUABAEAA, Enterprise Carbon Accounting & GHG Inventory Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 8731.