With the rise in the standard of living, there is an increasing need for intensive production. Such production demands large quantities of natural resources, but Earth cannot keep pace with the level of usage of already scarce resources nor with the insatiable demand for them. It is clear that the amount of waste in the world is not a result of nature but solely of human actions through personal and business processes and activities. Humans take from nature, create new products, consume them, and ultimately discard them. This behavior results in diminishing resources on our planet and increasing waste, causing nature to react with climate change, environmental pollution, and the extinction of plant and animal species. After years of ignoring the problems and negative aspects that linear economy brings, there is now an effort to redirect human and business activities towards a circular, or cyclical, approach.This paper does not focus on the entire economy but specifically on the pharmaceutical industry and its potential for transitioning to circular practices. By analyzing case studies of two pharmaceutical companies – Sanofi and Roche – positive examples and good practices are presented, as well as possible ways to implement sustainable activities to gradually transform operations from linear to circular. The results of the comparative analysis show that both companies understand the concept of the circular economy in every respect and strive daily through their activities not only to improve their own business and reputation but also to influence other companies in the industry to move in the same direction. A rapid and efficient transition of the entire pharmaceutical industry to a circular economy is possible only through the collective action and efforts of all industry members.