Greece’s drugmakers now position themselves as a linchpin for Europe’s medicine supply security, a message delivered directly to visiting EU health policymakers this week.
The timing matters. European officials face mounting pressure to fix persistent drug shortages and loosen dependence on suppliers outside the bloc. A delegation from the European Parliament’s Public Health Committee (SANT) traveled to Greece to examine local production capacity firsthand.
The Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industry (PEF) seized the moment. Industry leaders told the MEPs that Greece runs 51 pharmaceutical manufacturing plants along with 31 research and development centers. Companies continue pouring money into production infrastructure, advanced technologies, and specialized workers.
Those assets serve more than domestic demand, PEF stressed. Greek facilities form part of Europe’s wider manufacturing backbone, adding resilience to supply chains for critical medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Tripoli now emerges as a focal point. Major investments from DEMO, WinMedica (part of the ELPEN Group), and FARAN are transforming the city’s industrial zone into a new pharma hub. Lawmakers toured DEMO’s emerging oncology and penicillin production site during the visit. Presentations from WinMedica and FARAN outlined parallel expansions.
PEF framed Tripoli as proof that regional industrial growth can advance Europe’s healthcare security goals. The projects also generate highly skilled jobs in research, technology, and development.
Greek firms currently roll out €1.8 billion in investments. That pipeline, according to PEF, positions the country to become a European pharmaceutical manufacturing and technology hub. The association called strengthening this base both a national and European priority.
Dimitris Demos, PEF vice-president and DEMO’s chairman and CEO, described today’s Greek investments as investments in European production capacity. He said the SANT committee’s visit offered a chance to show lawmakers what Greece already delivers. The real test, Demos added, lies in harnessing that potential within a coherent European strategy for greater output, stronger resilience, and reliable supply.
