The Italian pharmaceutical industry is technologically advanced, with a strong leadership position in Europe and beyond. A sector that has seen strong growth in the past years and is capable of standing out for its high investment in research and development.

The 290 industry players, the main Italian and multinational pharmaceutical and biomedical companies, can boast production of over 37 billion euros, with more than 66,500 people that contribute to these results, rising to 146,000 if indirect employees are considered, a number that has increased rapidly in five years thanks to the sector’s dynamism and investment policies.

More than 70% of the workforce is employed in companies with more than 250 employees. Another element testifying to the vitality of the pharmaceutical sector is research and development expenditure, which stands at EUR 1.6 billion.

Added to this is a marked vocation for exports, with an increase of 58% over the past three years, growth has risen to 168% if we look at the last ten years, making Italy and Germany the leading nation in Europe in this field.The companies are located mainly in Lombardia, Lazio, Veneto and Toscana.

The expenditure of the Italian national health service is 126.6 billion euros, of which 32.2 billion euros is pharmaceutical. For this need to drive innovation through targeted policies, public policy measures are essential in this respect, encouraging the development of highly effective medicines and therapies that meet patients’ needs.

This article was contributed by our expert Antonio Iantosca

Frequently Asked Questions Answered by Antonio Iantosca

Q1. What percent of GDP does Italy spend on healthcare?

The Italy spend on healthcare is 7.1% of GDP, 2.614,00 Dollars for inhabitant, and 524,00 Dollars as farmaceutical expense for inhabitant.

Q2. What is the Italian healthcare system like?

The italian healthcare system is public and give services to all citizens without distinction of age. income or job, residence. The  italian people pay a tax directly to the state from hia salary.

Q3. What are two to three key trends facing the pharma industry today?

The key trends for the next years are public policy measures for encouraging deveolpment of hugly medicines and therapies, process innovation through the use of new technologies as Big data and Artificial Intelligence.

Another way is to build strategic parterships between companies in the same sector, to reduce risks and strenghten presence in international markets.

Q4. What outcomes are being expected from pharmaceuticals market in 2022?

The outcomes expected in 2022 is always a production increase and an export increase supported by new drugs.