The pharmaceutical industry thrives, yet Slovenia's healthcare sector has much more to offer: among others things - specialized IT companies, biotech niche leaders, and medical equipment providers.

Healthcare, pharma, and biotech industries, with their continuing growth and resilience to crises, are strengthening their position as one of the pillars of Slovenia's exports. Slovenia’s largest pharma company, Krka, posted record figures in 2025: over 2 billion euros in sales, with 7 percent annual growth and 400 million euros in net profit. Novartis and Sandoz continue to invest in their R&D and production facilities in various parts of the country.

Meanwhile, a less visible yet promising subsector is also gaining ground: IT companies with health-related products and services. Slovenian company Better develops digital healthcare platforms. The company has been named one of the industry leaders in the EMEA region by the IDC MarketScape survey. Better’s platform is used by over 1,000 institutions in 28 countries, including major implementations in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, and Sweden. It is “powering systems such as the Universal Care Plan for London, the national electronic health record systems in Greece, Slovenia, and Malta, as well as more than 60 hospitals in Finland, and several university hospitals in Germany and Switzerland.”

Modra Jagoda develops mobile applications linked to a complete and localized drug database under the Mediately brand. It offers quick and reliable information on drugs to both professionals and patients. The app is available in 14 European countries. According to the company’s website, they are the “leading medical app company in CEE and Italy,” employing “50 experts in medicine, digital pharma marketing, and development from 6 countries.” Mediately also developed RheumaHelper, the world’s leading mobile assistant for rheumatology experts. Doctrina set up another medical portal aimed at knowledge transfer for both healthcare professionals and patients. Smart Optometry develops digital solutions for eye care, including vision therapy through mobile games. The company was formed in 2015 in the Slovenian town of Idrija and now has subsidiaries in Zagreb and San Francisco; its Californian branch operates under the name Hundred Vision.

Ljubljana-based enterprise Mesi focuses on integrated diagnostics. The company developed a digital platform and the mTablet, a modular device that combines all core diagnostic measurements. Headquartered in Slovenia, the fast-growing Mesi has subsidiaries in France, Germany, the UK, Italy, and Spain. Some of the companies within the subsector do not focus on healthcare as such, but rather on the pharma and biotech industries. A good example is Sensum, the world’s leading developer of computer vision systems for visual quality inspection of pharma and nutraceutical products. The fast-growing company was established in 2000 and closely cooperates with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Ljubljana. Last year, Sensum won the title of National Exporter of the Year. Recently, the company opened two new demonstration labs in the USA and India.

The revenues of the featured companies are far higher than usual for the IT sector in Slovenia. Another characteristic of the subsector is the global ambition of these companies: almost all of them operate a network of subsidiaries abroad. Above all, these IT companies grow much faster than most of their peers in other subsectors.

Yet other segments of the sector thrive as well, not only pharma- and IT-related companies. Recent Swiss Biotech Days featured Slovenian companies presenting “advanced solutions in microbial biotechnology, cell and gene therapy, pharmaceutical equipment, clean-room technologies, advanced therapies, as well as analytical, IT, and microbiology services for the pharma industry.” The Slovenian pavilion at the World Health Care Expo in Dubai in February presented “19 specialized manufacturers presenting cutting-edge solutions in healthcare IT, telemedicine, diagnostic and laboratory equipment, orthopaedic and rehabilitation devices, surgical instruments, and advanced hospital and ambulatory care systems.” Clearly, healthcare is one of Slovenia’s most vital sectors – no pun intended.