Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations (SIC division 21)
Division 21 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 2 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
What sits in division 21
Two codes, and the difference between them matters. 21100, basic pharmaceutical products, is active ingredients and raw materials, and most companies carrying it put it first. 21200, pharmaceutical preparations, is finished medicines, and only around two thirds file it first, because it is often a secondary code for research businesses and distributors. Both are small in company terms and large in everything else, which is normal for a regulated, capital-heavy sector.
Contract research and manufacturing organisations, laboratory equipment suppliers, cleanroom and validation specialists and regulatory consultants all sell into this division. So do specialist recruiters, because the skills are scarce and the hiring is constant. The public record is most useful here for spotting new entities early: a spin-out or a new subsidiary appears at Companies House well before it has a website, and that gap is the opening.
How to read a division 21 code
A UK SIC code is five digits and division 21 is the first two of them. Everything filed under 21 shares those digits: all 2 codes below begin 21, then the third digit narrows to a group, the fourth to a class and the fifth to the subclass a company actually picks. Division 21 sits inside section C, manufacturing, which is the broadest tier of the classification. So a code is read left to right, from an industry down to a specific activity.
More on how division 21 codes are built
Companies choose their own codes at incorporation and can change them on any confirmation statement, and Companies House does not check the answer. A company may list up to four. That is worth knowing before you treat any division total as a headcount: the numbers here are what companies said about themselves, on the August 2026 register, and the largest single code in this division is 21100, manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products.
Working division 21 as a list
Division 21 holds 2 codes and 2,077 active companies between them. One code carries most of it: 21100 accounts for 61 per cent on its own, and the other 1 code accounts for the rest. Filtering by the whole division is therefore close to filtering by 21100 with a tail attached, so start from the code and widen only if the list runs dry.
More on working division 21
A caveat that matters more in some divisions than others: a company may register up to four SIC codes, and the figures below count every position, not just the first. A business filed under two codes in this division appears under both. Treat the totals as reach rather than a headcount, and if you need a clean list, filter to companies whose FIRST code sits in the division. Every company you pull carries the Companies House record, the director's name, a verified website and a verified email, and the ones we cannot complete are not charged.
Every SIC code in division 21
Prospecting this division
Division 21 companies, as leads
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Division 21 questions
Does an MHRA licence show up on the Companies House register?
No. Manufacturing and wholesale dealer licences are held by the MHRA and are published separately. The public record holds the company, its officers and its accounts. Use Companies House to find and qualify the entity, then check the MHRA register for what it is actually licensed to do.
Where do drug discovery and research companies sit?
Usually in 72110, research and experimental development on biotechnology, rather than in division 21. Manufacturing codes describe making the product. A company that researches and later manufactures will often carry codes from both, which is a good reason to match on any SIC position when you build the list.
Find companies across division 21
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