21 - MANUFACTURE OF BASIC PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS AND PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS Companies in France
Approximately 2,925 real businesses classified under 21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations in France, with officer, shareholder and beneficial ownership records sourced directly from official government registries.
Approximately 2,925 real businesses classified under 21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations operate in France. Covers companies officially classified under NAF Rev.2 code 21 (Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations), part of France’s NAF Rev.2 classification of economic activities. No medicine may be manufactured in France without prior authorisation for the production site from the ANSM (Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé), based on compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice (BPF/GMP); since January 2020 the authorisation is requested entirely online via the Démarches Simplifiées platform, and granted authorisations are published in the EU’s EudraGMDP database. LEEM, the French pharmaceutical industry association, counted 256 production sites and 109,243 direct jobs in the sector nationwide as of 2025, with roughly 70% of those jobs based outside the Île-de-France region. Ownership, beneficial-ownership disclosure and company-registration rules for these businesses follow the same national framework as other Manufacturing companies in France.
30 companies under this specific code are indexed on Zavia so far, part of a continually growing dataset.
Beneficial-ownership and registration rules for Manufacturing companies in France follow the same national framework as every other sector there.
Full France beneficial ownership overviewTop 21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations Companies in France
Live from the register. Every row opens the full record — officers, shareholders and resolved group structure.
Three real, sourced breakdowns behind the 2,922-company figure above — where the data allows a meaningful chart, and honest about where it doesn't yet (Zavia has no reliable revenue or headcount coverage for this sector today, so those are left out rather than estimated).
Live counts from Global Database, by NAF Rev.2 sub-group. The two sub-groups are counted independently and may not sum exactly to the 21 total above.
Across all 37.9M+ companies on France's register, not sector-specific — the same coverage figure shown for France generally. A sector-specific active/inactive split is not yet available.
Based on the 12 pharmaceutical companies indexed on Zavia so far — a sample, not a national geographic census. As more companies are indexed this will sharpen.
Data last verified 9 September 2026. Company and sub-sector counts sourced live from Global Database; France-wide status coverage from official registries via the same platform.
Data Coverage
Record counts for SIC Code C in France, as of the last reconciliation.
Section C is 3% of the France register by entity count and its 13th largest sector — see all sectors.
Analysis
What this data actually tells you
Manufacturing is one of the largest and most structurally complex sectors on the French register — entities range from a single-site SAS to multinational groups with dozens of French subsidiaries under one parent. Since 2017, France has been the first EU country to legally require this complexity to be actively managed: the loi de vigilance obliges parent companies above 5,000 employees in France (10,000 worldwide) to publish a vigilance plan covering their own activity, their subsidiaries, and the subcontractors and suppliers they have an established commercial relationship with.
The practical effect for verification is that manufacturing due diligence increasingly can’t stop at the entity being invoiced. A check on a French manufacturing counterparty now often needs to resolve its parent (to know whether a vigilance plan covers it), and its own supplier tier (to know whether it should be covered by someone else’s). EU-level obligations — the EUDR for wood-based inputs, CBAM for carbon-intensive materials — layer the same upstream-tracing requirement on top of a sector that was already required to know its own supply chain.
France Manufacturing, by the register
Charts render from live counts. Modules are suppressed where coverage is too thin to be meaningful.
Entities by sub-sector
SIC division level, live from official registries.
Active vs. inactive
Section C entities currently on the register as active, vs. struck off or dormant.
Company size, by disclosed headcount
By number of employees on file, Section C, France. 9,915 entities with no disclosed headcount are not counted in any band.
Who uses France manufacturing ownership data
The three checks this sector's data is most often run for.
Multi-tier supplier verification
France’s loi de vigilance (2017) requires large parent companies to map and monitor risk not just in their own operations but through their subsidiaries, subcontractors and established suppliers — pushing due diligence several tiers deep into a manufacturing supply chain rather than stopping at the first-tier contract.
Cross-border input sourcing
Manufacturers importing raw materials or components into the EU increasingly need to evidence where an input came from — the EUDR for wood-based inputs, CBAM reporting for carbon-intensive materials like steel, cement and aluminium — which means verifying the identity and location of suppliers well upstream of the first EU-based buyer.
Lending and trade-credit exposure
Manufacturing groups are frequently organised as a parent holding several operating subsidiaries; assessing counterparty risk on one plant means resolving its place in that group structure, since financial exposure at the parent doesn’t always show up on the subsidiary’s own filed accounts.
Sub-sectors within Manufacturing
SIC divisions inside this section, each with its own France company directory.
Manufacture of food products
247,441 companies
Manufacture of beverages
17,902 companies
Manufacture of tobacco products
501 companies
Manufacture of textiles
36,043 companies
Manufacture of wearing apparel
85,290 companies
Manufacture of leather and related products
16,511 companies
Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture; manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials
48,077 companies
Manufacture of paper and paper products
11,556 companies
Printing and reproduction of recorded media
81,981 companies
Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products
1,194 companies
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
22,982 companies
Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations
2,925 companies
Manufacture of rubber and plastic products
18,382 companies
Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products
59,178 companies
Manufacture of basic metals
6,835 companies
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment
89,070 companies
Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products
16,690 companies
Manufacture of electrical equipment
13,600 companies
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
26,658 companies
Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers
10,060 companies
Manufacture of other transport equipment
6,317 companies
Manufacture of furniture
52,162 companies
Other manufacturing
121,280 companies
Repair and installation of machinery and equipment
104,976 companies
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many companies are classified under 21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations in France?
Approximately 2,925 businesses are classified under 21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations in France.
What does NAF Rev.2 code 21 cover?
21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations is the official name for this activity under France's NAF Rev.2 classification of economic activities. It is a sub-category within the broader Manufacturing sector.
How is this different from the broader Manufacturing category?
Manufacturing is the top-level sector; NAF Rev.2 code 21 identifies one specific activity within it, letting you narrow a search to exactly this business type rather than the whole sector.
What ownership information is available for these companies?
The same beneficial-ownership, shareholder and officer disclosure framework applies as for any other company in France, regardless of its specific activity classification. See the individual company profile for the full ownership picture, or the Manufacturing sector overview for the general national framework.
What authorisation do pharmaceutical manufacturers need in France?
Before a French production site can manufacture medicines, its operator must hold an authorisation issued by the ANSM (Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé), confirming compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice (BPF/GMP). Since January 2020 this authorisation is requested entirely online via the Démarches Simplifiées platform, and granted authorisations are published in the EU’s EudraGMDP database.
What is LEEM?
LEEM (Les Entreprises du Médicament) is the trade association representing pharmaceutical companies operating in France. It publishes the main employment and production data for the sector — 256 production sites and 109,243 direct jobs nationwide as of 2025, with about 70% of those jobs outside the Île-de-France region — and is a standard reference point alongside official ANSM and INPI registry data, though it is an industry body, not a government registry.
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