Pharmaceutical engineering and advisory

The pharmaceutical and life sciences industry faces a unique set of challenges: tighter regulations, increasingly complex supply chains, accelerated scientific innovation, and growing demands for environmental responsibility. Arup combines engineering excellence, strategic advisory, and global program expertise to deliver solutions that contribute to healthier projects and a healthier world.

We deliver seamless engineering solutions within the GMP-regulated industry, putting people first to deliver projects, making the world a better and healthier place by enabling our clients to deliver on demand.

Our pharmaceutical engineering & advisory services encompass the full lifecycle of a facility, from concept to operation and beyond. At Arup, we deliver end-to-end services that translate strategic objectives into compliant, efficient, and future-ready environments. Our integrated approach combines engineering excellence with strategic advisory, helping pharmaceutical, life science, and biotech organizations navigate complexity, unlock value, and deliver safe, effective therapies across global portfolios.

We adhere to GMP standards, ensuring every facility we design supports product quality, patient safety, and regulatory compliance. Our teams work across sterile and non-sterile manufacturing, biologics, small molecules, and advanced therapies, optimizing production systems and advising on investment, regulation, and sustainability.

Our areas of expertise include drug substance, drug product, process architecture and utilities, project delivery, and pharma advisory. We support life science clients across global and regional locations.

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Strategic advisory

Ensuring confidence in decision-making, our strategic advisory services support clients from initial concept through global program delivery, providing clarity, insight, and direction at every stage.

Before investment, our pre-feasibility advisory helps clients explore strategic scenarios, assess risk, and uncover opportunities for innovation and resilience. We then support feasibility studies that evaluate technical, financial, and regulatory viability, guiding planning and execution.

Our front-end design services ensure facilities are not only compliant but also efficient, adaptable, and future-ready. Working collaboratively across disciplines, we define project scope, align user requirements, and establish clear roadmaps for delivery.

Beyond technical delivery, we help clients shape governance and delivery strategies that reflect their culture, market, and regulatory context. Our business resilience assessments uncover vulnerabilities across operations and supply chains, leading to actionable strategies that strengthen continuity and adaptability in a fast-changing global environment.

Global programs

For many clients operating across multiple geographies, delivering consistent, compliant, and agile pharmaceutical programs is a priority. Variations in regulatory frameworks and infrastructure can complicate decision-making. Arup provides strategic support to navigate this, consolidating standards across regions and embedding governance structures that enable consistency and local responsiveness.

To support consistency across global portfolios, we also develop design standards and technical guidelines that reflect each client’s processes, goals, and operational culture. These frameworks ensure quality and scalability while enabling local teams to deliver with confidence and clarity.

Decarbonization pathways

Balancing environmental responsibility with operational priorities is a growing challenge in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Complicated supply chains, energy-intensive manufacturing, and strict regulatory frameworks can create barriers to sustainability.

Arup helps clients overcome these barriers by mapping carbon footprints, identifying reduction opportunities, and developing decarbonization roadmaps. Our approach integrates sustainability into every stage of design and delivery, supporting net-zero commitments, ESG reporting, and long-term resilience.

Engineering services

We assist our clients across the entire lifecycle of pharmaceutical facilities, from early-stage planning to operational readiness. Our full design and EPCMV (Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management, and Validation) services ensure continuous delivery, from concept through commissioning.

Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) establishes the technical foundations that guide procurement, execution, and validation. Basic and detailed design services optimize facility layouts, process flows, and technical systems to meet the highest standards of safety, quality, and scalability.

To support consistency across global portfolios, we also develop design standards and technical guidelines tailored to individual client operational models. These ensure compliance, efficiency, and scalability across global markets.

By combining technical expertise with strategic advisory, we help clients navigate complexity, deliver innovation, and build environments that support both patient outcomes and business performance, unlocking value and delivering safe, effective therapies with confidence.