Did you know that some of the world’s most important medicines come from Europe?
Bayer synthesised Aspirin in 1897, and more than a century later BioNTech's Mainz laboratory produced the mRNA behind the first Covid-19 vaccine. European pharma still sits at the front of medical science: Switzerland's Roche and Novartis, France's Sanofi, and Denmark's Novo Nordisk, whose Wegovy and Ozempic made it for a time Europe's most valuable listed company.
Together these firms employ hundreds of thousands across the continent and pour billions into research, even as patent cliffs, biosimilars and rivals like Eli Lilly bite into their bestsellers. Here are the companies keeping Europe at the cutting edge of medicine.
Roche
Known for: Breakthrough cancer drugs such as Herceptin and Perjeta for HER2-positive breast cancer and the immunotherapy Tecentriq, plus Ocrevus, which slows multiple sclerosis, and Hemlibra, which prevents bleeds in haemophilia.
Employees: ~113,000
Novo Nordisk
Known for: The GLP-1 medicines Ozempic, which controls type 2 diabetes, and Wegovy, which drives major weight loss in obesity, built on a century of insulin production.
Employees: ~78,000
Bayer
Known for: The blood thinner Xarelto, which prevents strokes and dangerous clots, and the eye injection Eylea, which protects sight in macular degeneration, plus Aspirin, which Bayer invented over a century ago.
Employees: ~89,000
AstraZeneca
Known for: Targeted cancer drugs like Tagrisso for lung cancer and Enhertu for breast cancer, the heart-and-kidney protector Farxiga in diabetes, and the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Employees: ~95,000
GSK (GlaxoSmithKline)
Known for: The shingles vaccine Shingrix and the first RSV vaccine Arexvy, HIV therapies such as Dovato, and the world's first malaria vaccine, protecting millions against infectious disease.
Employees: ~67,000
Sanofi
Known for: The immunology blockbuster Dupixent, which calms severe eczema and asthma, the infant RSV antibody Beyfortus, and a long heritage in insulin for diabetes.
Employees: ~75,000
Novartis
Known for: The heart-failure drug Entresto, the psoriasis and arthritis treatment Cosentyx, and Kymriah, the first CAR-T therapy, which reprograms a patient's own immune cells to attack blood cancers.
Employees: ~76,000
BioNTech
Known for: Comirnaty, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that proved mRNA technology at scale, now being turned toward personalised cancer vaccines in clinical trials.
Employees: ~6,700
Lundbeck
Known for: Brain medicines such as the antidepressant Trintellix, Rexulti for schizophrenia, and Vyepti for migraine prevention, focused entirely on psychiatric and neurological disease.
Employees: ~5,600
Grifols
Known for: Plasma-derived medicines such as immunoglobulins that shield people with weak immune systems from infection, and albumin used in critical care, all made from donated human plasma.
Employees: ~24,000
Almirall
Known for: Dermatology treatments such as Ilumetri for plaque psoriasis and Ebglyss for atopic eczema, easing severe chronic skin disease, alongside respiratory and other specialty medicines.
Employees: ~2,100
Sobi (Swedish Orphan Biovitrum)
Known for: Rare-disease treatments like Elocta and Alprolix, long-acting clotting factors that prevent bleeds in haemophilia, plus Kineret for rare inflammatory conditions.
Employees: ~1,900
Recipharm
Known for: Not its own brands but the manufacturing behind others' medicines, with particular strength in sterile injectables and inhalers that are difficult to produce at scale.
Employees: ~3,600
Camurus
Known for: Buvidal, a long-acting buprenorphine injection that treats opioid addiction with weekly or monthly doses instead of daily pills, lowering the risk of relapse and overdose.
Employees: ~300
Recordati
Known for: Rare-disease medicines such as Isturisa for Cushing's syndrome and Carbaglu for metabolic disorders, plus the blood-pressure drug Zanidip and urology treatments.
Employees: ~4,500
Chiesi Farmaceutici
Known for: Respiratory inhalers such as Trimbow and Foster that open the airways in asthma and COPD, plus Curosurf, which helps premature babies breathe.
Employees: ~7,900
Menarini Group
Known for: The blood-pressure drug Nebilet, the breast-cancer treatment Orserdu, and everyday remedies like Lasonil, spanning cardiology, oncology and consumer health.
Employees: ~17,800
Italfarmaco
Known for: Duvyzat (givinostat), a first-of-its-kind drug that slows muscle loss in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, alongside specialty medicines in neurology and gynaecology.
Employees: ~3,700
Angelini
Known for: Central-nervous-system drugs like the epilepsy treatments Ontozry and Buccolam, which stop seizures, plus the household painkillers Tachipirina and Moment for pain and fever.
Employees: ~2,800
Boehringer Ingelheim
Known for: Jardiance, which lowers blood sugar and protects the heart and kidneys, Ofev for the lung-scarring disease pulmonary fibrosis, and the stroke-preventing blood thinner Pradaxa.
Employees: ~53,000
Lonza
Known for: Not its own drugs but making everyone else's, manufacturing biologics and ingredients for companies from Roche to Moderna, including large-scale COVID-19 vaccine production.
Employees: ~20,000
Merck KGaA
Known for: Cancer and MS medicines such as Erbitux and Mavenclad, fertility treatments, and Glucophage, the original metformin that is still the first-line drug for type 2 diabetes worldwide.
Employees: ~62,000
UCB
Known for: Epilepsy drugs like Keppra, Vimpat and Briviact that control seizures, plus Bimzelx for psoriasis and Cimzia for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease.
Employees: ~9,400
Galapagos
Known for: Building CAR-T cell therapies for blood cancers, a pivot after its earlier arthritis drug Jyseleca, aiming to deliver personalised cell treatment faster to patients.
Employees: ~700
Janssen Belgium
Known for: The Belgian research home of drugs that shaped modern medicine, including the painkiller fentanyl, the antipsychotic haloperidol and Imodium for diarrhoea, now part of Johnson & Johnson.
Employees: ~5,200 at its Belgian sites
Sopharma
Known for: Tabex, a plant-based smoking-cessation pill using cytisine, and the liver-support remedy Carsil, alongside a broad range of affordable generics.
Employees: ~5,900
Antibiotice Iași
Known for: Injectable antibiotics and Nystatin, an antifungal it is one of the world's leading producers of, supplying the essential generic medicines that treat everyday infections.
Employees: ~1,350
Biofarm
Known for: Affordable generic and over-the-counter medicines across heart, digestive and skin conditions, including long-standing Romanian staples like the digestive aid Triferment.
Employees: ~500