THE pharmaceutical industry has continued to lead the way to increase energy efficiency here, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a case study.

In NEA's report developed last week, it pointed to the efforts of four pharmaceutical firms to implement energy saving initiatives over the past year.

The companies - Aventis Pharma Manufacturing, Pfizer Asia Pacific, Novartis Singapore Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Wyeth Nutritionals - were all winners of the Energy Efficiency National Partnership Best Practices award last year.

"For pharmaceutical companies, where energy costs constitute a significant part of the business operation costs, lower energy costs will translate to lower cost of goods, which will ultimately benefit the patients as it means that medicine is more accessible and affordable," said NEA.

The EENP Awards will be held tomorrow as part of the National Energy Efficiency Conference at the Singapore Expo.