Romanian pharmaceutical manufacturers generated more than 7.3 billion lei in 2025

Revenue rises despite pressure on manufacturers

Companies producing medicines and pharmaceutical preparations in Romania generated combined revenue of more than 7.3 billion lei in 2025, an increase of 7% from the previous year. The figures were compiled by Ziarul Financiar, or ZF, using data from the Bridge to Information analysis platform.

The increase extends a longer period of nominal expansion. According to ZF, the revenue and profit generated by local pharmaceutical production have almost doubled since 2018. The latest results indicate that the industry continued to grow in financial terms during 2025, even as manufacturers faced weaker purchasing power, new taxes and the absence of a strategy designed to support domestic production.

Ten factories control 80% of the market

Romania’s pharmaceutical manufacturing base is heavily concentrated. The ten largest factories generate 80% of total sector revenue, while the three leading producers account for half of the market. ZF identifies Zentiva, Terapia and Antibiotice as the largest factories by revenue.

The concentration means that changes in investment, output or product portfolios at a small number of plants can have a substantial effect on Romania’s overall manufacturing capacity. It also leaves smaller producers competing within a relatively narrow part of the market. The number of companies engaged in local medicine production has declined in recent years and currently stands at 146.

Employment remains flat as financial output grows

Employment has not followed the increase in revenue and profit. The industry has maintained a workforce of approximately 9,500 to 10,000 people during the past eight years, with the most recent figures placing employment at about 10,000. ZF separately reports a range of roughly 9,600 to 10,000 employees when comparing the sector with 2018.

The combination of rising revenue and broadly unchanged staffing suggests that sales per employee have increased, although the available data do not show how much of that change came from higher production volumes, prices, product mix or operating efficiency. The figures also provide no breakdown of individual medicine categories, plant capacity utilization, capital investment or export sales.

Domestic capacity has a strategic role, but import impact is unclear

A manufacturing base led by Zentiva, Terapia and Antibiotice gives Romania an established platform for supplying locally produced medicines. Domestic factories can potentially reduce exposure to foreign suppliers for the products they make, while supporting industrial employment and pharmaceutical know-how. However, the data published by ZF do not specify which medicines are produced locally or provide figures for imports, exports and domestic consumption. The industry’s actual contribution to reducing import dependence therefore cannot be quantified from the available information.

For producers and investors, the central issue is whether the 7% revenue increase can support new capacity and a broader local product portfolio while taxes and purchasing-power pressures persist. For medicine buyers and distributors, the high level of concentration makes the investment and production decisions of the leading factories especially important. Romania has recorded continued financial growth in pharmaceutical manufacturing, but the stable workforce and falling number of producers show that the expansion is not broad-based across the industry.