In this review, we aim to discuss the recent trends (i.e. 2010 or later) of EMR processes applied specifically for the production of valuable (chiral) building blocks for the pharmaceutical industry. We cover both ceramic and polymeric membranes applications. Polymeric membranes are most commonly employed support to develop biocatalytic membrane reactors, and present an array of advantages with respect to their ceramic counterparts. For example, polymeric membranes tend to be generally cheaper and offer a wider range of manufacturing techniques have been developed to enable better control and tailoring of the final membrane properties 2,36 . Yet, their organic nature often hampers their chemical stability, which could be an issue when such membranes are put in contact with organic solvents and hence, limit their applicability in multiphasic membrane reactors 45 . On the other hand, ceramic membranes are able to overcome these drawbacks thanks to their inherent outstanding chemical and thermal stability , hence we consider that it is also important to cover their applications.