46% Micro
30% Small
10% Mid
7% Large
6% Mega
INSIGHTS - MARCH 2025
UK Pharmaceuticals Industry
UK Pharmaceuticals Industry Information
The pharmaceuticals industry involves physical processes such as blending, compression, filtration, heating, encapsulation, shearing, tableting, granulation, coating, and drying to produce drugs for use as medications
Active Businesses
1,279
Annual Sales
£42bn +
Employees
105,158
Economic Contribution
£16bn
Tags
Location of Pharmaceuticals Companies
Pharmaceuticals Companies by Size
Pharmaceuticals Companies by Age
31% Mature
26% Established
26% Young
18% Startup
0% New
Oldest Pharmaceuticals Companies
Established
Accord-uk Ltd
1903
Fastest Growing Pharmaceuticals Companies
33% Declining
26% Healthy
16% Rapid
13% Low
12% High
Fastest Growing Pharmaceuticals Companies
3yr CAGR
Pharmaceuticals Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers
Pharmaceuticals Industry Valuation
EBITDA Multiple
Pharmaceuticals Industry Valuation
Turnover Multiple
Pharmaceuticals Industry Valuation
Net Asset Multiple
Note - from March 2020 multiples are calculated monthly, prior to this they were calculated on an annual basis.
UK Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations Industry Insights
There are 1,279 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £42 billion .
The Industry employs around 105,158 people and contributes £16 billion to the economy.
The most popular location for Pharmaceuticals companies is London with 370 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 29.
The largest Pharmaceuticals company is Astrazeneca Plc with a turnover of £36bn. 46% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 10% Mid companies.
18% of the Pharmaceuticals Industry is made up of 18% Startup but the majority are Mature businesses (31%) the oldest company is Smith Kline & French Laboratories Limited founded in 1897.
Pharmaceuticals industry has a number of high growth companies (13%), the fastest growing company is Wave Life Sciences Uk Limited with a 3 year growth rate of 83%. Other fast growing companies include Cycle Pharmaceuticals Ltd (64%), Cycle Group Holdings Limited (60%) and Nicobrand Limited (52%).
The UK Pharmaceuticals Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 13.21x, Turnover multiple of 3.09x and a Net Asset multiple of 2.08x.
