Thirteen pharmaceutical companies with Italian capital (renamed 'Fab13') members of Farmindustria (Dompè, Menarini, Molteni, Zambon, Abiogen Pharma, Angelini, Recordati, Chiesi, Italfarmaco, Mediolanum, IBN Savio, Kedrion and AlfaSigma), boasting growing revenues to approximately 11.6 billion in 2018 (+4% on 2017) and a turnover that absorbs 43,000 employees, which grew globally by 1,400 units in one year (+3.3%). They are the 'flagship' of the pharmaceutical sector, and are distinguished by growth in business volume, profitability, willingness and investment capacity. This was revealed by an update of the Nomisma study 'Industry 2030. The Italian pharmaceutical industry and its champions facing the challenge of the new manufacturing paradigm' 
presented in Rome.
It is a group of companies located in the central-northern regions, mainly family controlled, smaller than the giants of the sector operating abroad. They also boast production sites in Italy, but which have been able to establish themselves thanks to a forward-looking internationalization process, maintaining their industrial 'head and roots' in Italy. It is the foreign turnover that drives the overall increase in turnover, up by 6.2% compared to the previous year and has come to represent 68.6% of sales. Broadening the perspective of the analysis to the period 2007-2018, the commercial strength of the 'fabulous 13' on foreign markets appears even more evident, where the performance recorded a +149.7% against a rise of 24.6% on the domestic market . The expansion in the number of employees mainly concerned the foreign offices of the Fab13, where within the national borders the employment levels remained almost stable (-0.6%), after years of gradual consolidation: the Italian component employed in it therefore stands at 35.2% of the total in 2018. Italy continues to represent the priority location choice of Fab13 as regards activities with higher added value, the basis from which decision-making processes and the drive for innovation take off ( headquarters and research).
The high added value per employee, much higher than the average for Italian manufacturing, is on the other hand one of the elements characterizing the pharmaceutical sector as a whole.
In addition to the presence of foreign markets through the export of drugs, the internationalization activity of Italian pharmaceutical companies has been consolidated in even deeper and more lasting operations which have led in twenty years to acquisitions and mergers, to the opening of , branches and research centres. An international dimension that was further amplified in 2018 with the opening of seven new branches by Recordati (Scandinavia, Benelux, the Baltic Countries, Japan, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Australia) and one by Italfarmaco (Germany), bringing the total number outside the country stands at 208.
Finally, if the data on the global competitiveness of Fab13 appear more than robust, the will to continue growth in the long term is demonstrated by the growth rates of investments in R&D activities. In 2018, the total amount allocated by Fabs13 exceeded one billion euros, recording an increase of 10.8% compared to 2017. Italian companies therefore invested 8.7% of revenues in R&D in 2018, driven in particular by Chiesi and Dompé, which report an incidence on turnover of 21.6% and 14.7% respectively.
However - the report notes - it should be noted that despite a renewed impetus in investment by Italian-owned manufacturing companies, Italian pharmaceuticals as a whole show a relatively lower propensity to invest in research and development than the giants of global Big Pharma . A gap that needs to be filled in order to be able to face the main challenges of the future, from digitization processes to biotechnologies and gene therapies.
