Pharma and Life Science: news from Italy and the world

The top Italian-owned 13 are thriving

The Nomisma Observatory, dedicated to the top 13 Italian-owned pharmaceutical companies, confirms the great potential of the sector, which in the last few years has managed to stand out at global level thanks to its strong vocation for internationalization, innovation and investments.

By Milena Bernardi

Alfasigma, Abiogen Pharma, Angelini Pharma, Chiesi Farmaceutici, Dompé farmaceutici, I.B.N.Savio, Italfarmaco, Kedrion, Menarini, Molteni, Mediolanum Recordati and Zambon are the top 13 national pharmaceutical brands considered by Nomisma in the “Le Fab13: la farmaceutica a capitale italiano” (The fab 13: Italian-owned pharmaceuticals) report which reveals how and why these companies have become a strategic asset for the country.

Specifically, the brands in question generated revenues in 2022 for a total of 14.3 billion euros, reporting a growth of 12.6% thanks to exports (+14.9%), investments (+25%) and innovation (1.6 billion euros). In the domestic market, growth was more limited (+7%). The report has also highlighted how, for the Fab 13, the foreign market represents 72.6% of total sales, well above the national manufacturing average.

Acquisitions, production efficiency and R&D are growing

There are three strategic levers which, in 2022, drove turnovers. The acquisition of companies, products and licenses required investments of 1.3 billion euros, up 50% on 2021, while infrastructure and efficiency improvements and the extension of productive areas, including the acquisition of equipment and machinery, reached 250 million (+2%). R&D activity was particularly strong, absorbing 1.6 billion euros (+14.5% compared to the previous year), a spending trend that marks a decisive change of gear over the last three-year period: while average annual investment between 2010 and 2019 (a period of extraordinary growth for the sector) stood at around 723 million euros, between 2020 and 2022, the amount almost doubled, arriving at 1,404 million euros.

Employment is also increasing: +1.3% vs 2021

The number of employees has increased hand in hand with the growth in revenues and investments. In 2022, the 13 pharmaceutical companies employed in the world 43,736 workers (+1.3% against 2021), of which 14,534 in Italy, substantially in line with the previous year (+0.1%). It should be pointed out that abroad, where the companies have numerous production sites and branches, employment is more commercially-oriented, while the Italian headquarters and production sites continue to be the decision-making and strategic sites. In Italy, in fact, personnel are mainly employed in R&D and production areas. It should be noted, moreover, that 95% of the workers employed in the domestic market of the Fab13 have a permanent contract and almost half are female (44%).

Boom in made in Italy exports

The second part of the Nomisma Observatory examines a number of key aspects of the entire pharmaceutical sector, concentrating on the dimensional structure of the companies, employment, added value and exports. On the latter point, while in 2021 there was a slight fall in sales (-2.2% for a value of 33.2 billion euros), the provisional figure for 2022 shows a strong acceleration driven by the rise in list prices, with a value of over 43 billion euros.

Widening the time horizon, it emerges, however that from 2008 to 2021, the value of pharmaceutical exports substantially tripled, recording a growth of 178% against 40% achieved on average in the manufacturing sector. The segment, moreover, stands out for a greater company dimension compared to the average of other segments: 38.3% of pharmaceutical businesses employ, in fact, over 50 workers, while the share of medium and large manufacturing businesses does not exceed 3% of the total.

The employment situation is also dynamic: in 2021, the total of pharmaceutical businesses employed over 67,000 workers, up 0.9% on 2020 and 4.7% on 2011. This last result, is in contrast with the negative average data recorded by manufacturing (-6.3%) and with all other sectors, with the exception of the food, chemical, machinery and means of transport sectors.