Pharmaceutical Sector Profile – Spain

Spain is the world's 13th largest nominal GDP economy and one of the largest EU economies.
There are 46 million civilians. In terms of gross drug sales, the Spanish pharmaceutical sector is
among the top four European Union countries (after the UK departure). Spain, with € 15 billion
in 2018, has fifth place in the European export sector and one of the largest generators of jobs
in the world with more than 41 thousand employees (52 percent women employment rate).
With 183 pharmaceutically produced laboratories, Spain ranks 4th in the EU.

The Spanish pharmaceutical industry has long been a major pillar of Spain's high-tech
manufacturing. This branch has 5,000 full-time testing practitioners (65 percent are women). In
2017, the Spanish pharmaceutical sector (20.3% of the overall industry investments in R&D)
spent more than €1.2 billion in R&D, while 164 pharmacies have invested in R&D+I.

Spain's generic medicine industry in 2019 accounted for 21% of the overall medicinal value
market, with 40% of units. In 2018, 283 new pharmaceutical drugs, distributed by pharmacies
and producing € 60 million in revenue, were introduced in Spain by Spanish and international
pharmaceutical firms. Generic medications constituted up to 67% of the latest (189), 4 new APIs
(NAP) products and the remainder were combined with existing APIs.
As a net nation importer – Canadian drug exports in 2019 represented more than $19 million in
CAD for Spain. In the nutraceutical, cosmeceuticals, natural health and functional products
subsectors and the thriving animal health industry, Spain provides a wide variety of prospects
for Canadian firms in terms of API production, co-definitions for pharmaceutical or
biotechnology companies ready to launch and at a late stage (phase II b/III).
While some obstacles to pharmaceutical businesses do remain across Spain, including the
Spanish Government's price controls for pharmaceutical products within Public Health, Spain
appears to be a very lucrative market for pharmaceutical firms worldwide.

Gracefully maturing
Spain has become a leading investment destination once more because of a strongly enhanced
consumer access scenario, high quality, but yet inexpensive, production capabilities and an
inviting basis in clinical science, and with that being one of the reason Spain has now firmly set
out on the way to economic growth after the devastation of the global financial crisis. There
have been several compulsory price increases and repayment expulsions that associated with
successive austerity measures. Spain is proud to be today's tenth biggest pharmaceutical
industry in the world. According to BMI, the 2020 assessment is EUR 35.57bn (USD 40.20bn).