Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations
Activities
NACE division 21 · 3 activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations21201 | 149 | 4 | 1 | 25,629 |
| Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations21100 | 146 | 5 | 1 | 3,546 |
| Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations21209 | 97 | 2 | 0 | 1,617 |
Filed accounts
NACE division 21 · financial year 2025 · 279 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | - | - | 34.8% | 38.6% | 40.1% | 40.4% | 44.0% | 44.9% |
| Median net result | - | - | €20,327 | €20,024 | €18,463 | €18,865 | €22,662 | €23,776 |
| Filed late | 36.0% | 47.8% | 35.2% | 36.0% | 33.8% | 34.1% | 32.2% | - |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 21
104 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €71,000 | €53,500 to €110,200 | 40 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €102,100 | €95,100 to €128,700 | 28 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €82,700 | €74,400 to €95,300 | 21 |
Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench
Bankruptcies
Bankruptcies per year in division 21
| Per year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Jobs lost | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 81 | 41 | 109 | 24 |
2026 through April. Every bankruptcy, also of companies that have since left the register. Source: Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics), NACE classification of 2008.
Recent bankruptcies
| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 24-04-2026 | San'Up
BE 0693.818.729 |
| 10-03-2026 | Amalus Therapeutics
BE 0803.929.268 |
| 27-10-2025 | UNIZIMA
BE 0744.643.759 |
| 27-10-2025 | Quantoom Biosciences
BE 0744.643.858 |
| 10-10-2025 | UNIVERCELLS
BE 0502.742.288 |
| 02-09-2025 | EXOTHERA
BE 0744.643.660 |
| 15-04-2025 | ROMARK BELGIUM
BE 0536.645.867 |
| 24-01-2025 | ORGENESIS SERVICES SRL
BE 0790.353.624 |
Spread across the country
by region and province · 358 of 375 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat- Flanders
- Wallonia
- Brussels
- Abroad
This sector's balance sheets on the map, by municipality and down to the address
Largest employers
NACE division 21 · staff from the latest accounts- 1 GlaxoSmithKline BiologicalsRixensart 8,371 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 Janssen PharmaceuticaBeerse 5,325 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 PFIZER MANUFACTURING BELGIUMPuurs-Sint-Amands 4,021 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 BAXALTA BELGIUM MANUFACTURINGLessines 1,197 FTEfinancial year 2026
- 5 Organon HeistHeist-op-den-Berg 1,005 FTEfinancial year 2025
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 150 companies- 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 112
- 116 Chemical industry 60
- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 20
- 313 Pharmacies and pricing offices 5
- 209 White-collar workers in metal manufacturing 2
- 321 Wholesale distributors of medicines 2
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 1
- 111 Metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 1
Show the 11 others
- 119 Food trade 1
- 120 Textile industry 1
- 136 Paper and cardboard processing 1
- 145 Horticulture 1
- 201 Independent retail 1
- 214 White-collar workers in the textile industry 1
- 220 White-collar workers in the food industry 1
- 222 White-collar workers in paper and cardboard processing 1
- 302 Hotels and catering 1
- 323 Building management, estate agents and domestic staff 1
- 330 Health institutions and services 1
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Foreign control in NACE division 21
309 registered companiesSubsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €65.0m awarded
- Federal transfers 1.2m amount as published
- EU budget €15.6m attributed share
- EU research €38.2m EU contribution
Insights on Pharmaceuticals
Balance sheet and result. 40.1% of the annual accounts close with a loss, against 26.7% in Belgium. 18.3% of the annual accounts show negative equity, against 12.4% in Belgium. The median net result of €23,776 is above Belgium's €16,516.
Bankruptcies. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.3% is above Belgium's 0.2%. By size, the median bankruptcy probability is 0.4% at under 10 FTE and 0.4% at 10 to 49 FTE.
Inflow and structure. 4.5% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium. Wallonia holds 38.6% of the seats, against 22.7% in Belgium. In 12 months, 2.9 of 100 companies started, against 8.9 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 88% of the 86 other NACE divisions.
Staff and filing. The median staff cost per FTE of €94,210 is above Belgium's €61,417. 32.2% of the financial year 2024 accounts were filed late, against 38.4% in Belgium. The 5 largest employers hold 19,918 of the 30,792 FTE: 64.7%.
Direction. Median solvency rose from 34.8% in financial year 2020 to 44.9% in financial year 2025. The median net result rose from €20,327 in financial year 2020 to €23,776 in financial year 2025.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 07-11-2026 05:30.
Method and sources
Every company registered today counts under its main activities in the KBO. Establishment units do not count. Staff counts once, under the employer's first main activity, from its latest accounts and only where it fits the staff costs. The count follows the NACE 2025 classification, the version in which code 21 exists.
The bankruptcies over five years count only companies still registered today, because the activity of a company that left the register is not kept. So they are fewer than the bankruptcies of those years, and the figure is not a probability for the future. Over twelve months the count is nearly complete, because a bankrupt company stays registered while its bankruptcy runs. A company with more than one main activity counts in each of those sectors.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other NACE divisions rests on an overview of every division, counted again each night. Each division is counted in the version of the NACE classification in which it exists. A standing such as "more than in 80%" compares with the other divisions that have the figure. A division's bankruptcy probability is the median over its companies with a score. Belgium here counts the 1,276,547 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 699,272 registrations publish no activity.
Each median is the value of the middle company, computed over the annual accounts of financial year 2025, and is shown only from 30 accounts. A share (loss-making, negative equity) counts that year's accounts with that trait. Accounts are late when they are filed after the statutory deadline. Missing or 90 days late counts the companies with accounts missing today, or whose latest were filed more than 90 days after the deadline. The dossier follows the same rule.