Founded in May 1978, Farmindustria is the Association of pharmaceutical companies that serves as the sector component within the Confindustria System. It is also a member of the European Federation (EFPIA) and of the International Federation (IFPMA). Farmindustria represents around 200 member companies, both Italian and foreign-owned, with more than 130 manufacturing plants across the country, 72,200 highly skilled employees (45% women) and an increasingly young workforce (under-35s grew by 25% between 2019 and 2025, faster than overall employment in the sector). With production exceeding €70 billion, of which €69 billion is destined for export, the pharmaceutical industry ranks as a leader in the EU alongside Germany and France. It is also a strategic asset for the nation's health, growth and security.
Italy is among the leading players in pharmaceutical research, thanks to 7,300 researchers and annual investments of more than €4.4 billion (€2.5 billion in R&D and €1.9 billion in manufacturing): this is reflected in its centers of excellence in basic research and clinical trials, in the production of chemically synthesized and biotech medicines, preventive vaccines and antibodies, innovative antibiotics, plasma-derived products, CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization) activities, advanced therapies and orphan drugs. A wide range of companies and development models have been built in partnership with the local area and its public and private centers of excellence, universities, science parks, start-ups, non-profit organizations and the National Health Service (SSN).
The pharmaceutical industry strengthens the entire economy: Italy is the world's second-largest exporter of packaged medicines, with a 10% share, after Germany (13%). Between 2019 and 2025, employment in the sector grew significantly above the national average (+10% vs +5%). The sector has also long been committed to a more sustainable economy that pays greater attention to health, wellbeing and training. In these years of major transformation and growing international competition, the importance of the pharmaceutical sector in Italy stands out even more clearly.
The Association places great importance on training and youth engagement, through numerous projects such as collaboration with the Higher Technical Institutes (ITS) in New Life Technologies, with the ITS Pharma Academy, where young people acquire specialist skills aligned with the profiles the sector needs, and the School-Work Alternation program, aimed at guiding students' career choices. Also important is the partnership with universities to help update scientific skills, a partnership formalized through an agreement Farmindustria signed with the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) and the Conference of Italian University Presidents (CRUI).
Relations between member companies and the scientific and healthcare community are governed by a code of ethics that is among the most rigorous in Europe. Farmindustria works to achieve a stable regulatory framework and a pharmaceutical policy that recognizes the sector's vital role in driving growth in the nation’s life sciences. To this end, it promotes dialogue on the policies needed to stimulate growth for the benefit of Italy and its citizens, also with roadshows at member companies across the country's regions which showcase firsthand the innovation and value creation of the pharmaceutical industry.