Division 21: Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations

Section C, Manufacturing. 3 subcategories with ISTAT's explanatory notes and the ATECO 2022 codes they come from.

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  1. 21Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations

    This division includes the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations.

    This division also includes the manufacture of medicinal chemical and botanical products.

  2. 21.1Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products
  3. 21.10Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products
    ISTAT explanatory notes ›

    Excludes

    • manufacture of advance cell and gene therapy pharmaceutical preparations, see 21.2021.20
    • manufacture of tissue engineered medicines, see 21.2021.20
  4. 21.10.0Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products
  5. 21.10.00Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products
    From ATECO 2022: 21.10.00 Fabbricazione di prodotti farmaceutici di base (all from here)
    ISTAT explanatory notes ›

    Includes

    • manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients to be used for their pharmacological properties in the manufacture of medical products (e.g. antibiotics, basic vitamins, salicylic and O-acetylsalicylic acids)
    • processing of blood

    Also includes

    • manufacture of chemically pure sugars
    • manufacture of probiotics
    • processing of glands and manufacture of extracts of glands, etc.
  6. 21.2Manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations
  7. 21.20Manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations
    ISTAT explanatory notes ›

    Excludes

    • manufacture of herb infusions (mint, vervain, chamomile, etc.), see 10.8310.83
    • manufacture of food supplements, see 10.8910.89
    • manufacture of probiotics, see 21.1021.10
    • manufacture of dental fillings and dental cement, see 32.5032.50
    • manufacture of bone reconstruction cements, see 32.5032.50
    • manufacture of surgical drapes, see 32.5032.50
    • wholesale of pharmaceuticals, see 46.4646.46
    • retail sale of pharmaceuticals, see 47.7347.73
    • research and development for pharmaceuticals and other biotech products, see 72.1072.10
    • packaging of pharmaceuticals, see 82.9282.92
  8. 21.20.0Manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations
    ISTAT explanatory notes ›

    Implementation rule

    • The manufacture of pharmaceutical preparationsis subdivided in manufacture of radioactive in-vivo diagnostic substances and manufacture of other pharmaceutical preparations.
  9. 21.20.01Manufacture of radioactive in-vivo diagnostic substances
    From ATECO 2022: 21.20.01 Fabbricazione di sostanze diagnostiche radioattive in vivo (all from here)
    ISTAT explanatory notes ›

    Includes

    • manufacture of radioactive in-vivo diagnostic substances
  10. 21.20.09Manufacture of other pharmaceutical preparations
    From ATECO 2022: 21.20.09 Fabbricazione di medicinali ed altri preparati farmaceutici (all from here)
    ISTAT explanatory notes ›

    Includes

    • manufacture of medicaments:
      • antisera and other blood fractions
      • vaccines
      • diverse medicaments, including homeopathic preparations
    • manufacture of chemical contraceptive products for external use and hormonal contraceptive medicaments
    • manufacture of medical diagnostic preparations, including pregnancy tests
    • manufacture of cell and gene advance therapy medical products
    • manufacture of tissue engineered medicines

    Also includes

    • manufacture of medical impregnated wadding, gauze, bandages, dressings, etc.
    • preparation of botanical products (grinding, grading, milling) for pharmaceutical use
    • manufacture of viral vectors-based medicines or vaccines
    • manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations for veterinary medicines

Source and disclaimer

The code you find here has no legal value, like the one from ISTAT's own navigator. You can use it as a reference when you register or change a VAT number with the Business Register or the Italian Revenue Agency. If in doubt, ask your accountant. ISTAT's official ATECO navigator.

Data: ISTAT, ATECO 2025 classification, CC BY 4.0 licence. We reorganised the files for search without changing the text of codes and notes, except for the capitalisation of section titles. CC BY 4.0

ISTAT files used

ATECO documentation on istat.it