Lithuania

Lithuania's pharmaceutical industry is dominated by foreign multinationals, which are already consolidated in this market. The vast majority of them have established offices in Vilnius, with only a handful located in Kaunas. Lithuania may be one of the smallest pharmaceutical markets in the EU, but it remains the largest in the Baltic States. According to Mordor Intelligence, the market is projected to reach USD 697 million in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 6.17% to reach USD 941 million by 2030.

Based on Sodra data (January 2026), Lithuania's pharma sector directly employs approximately 1,660 people across 81 active companies. The breakdown by type: generic pharma (~535), innovative pharma (~430), CROs (~410), licensed marketing companies (~230), and services/consultancy (~55).

Lithuania's biotechnology industry is regarded as one of the most sophisticated in Central and Eastern Europe. According to LithuaniaBIO, the sector generates around 2.5% of GDP — roughly threefold its 2016 contribution per the Ministry of Economy and Innovation — with revenues reaching €2.6 billion, up more than 11 times since 2010. The sector employs around 1,530 people, dominated by Thermo Fisher Scientific (1,330 employees) and Teva's Sicor Biotech manufacturing site (~210). An ambitious BioCity campus — one of Europe's largest planned biotech hubs — is in development with a projected investment of €7 billion (Invest Lithuania).

Unlike pharma, the MedTech commercial market in Lithuania operates largely through local distribution companies rather than direct manufacturer representation. Only a handful of international MedTech companies have established their own legal entities in the country — though those that have done so tend to be significant employers. The three largest are Intersurgical, which operates manufacturing plants in Pabradė and Visaginas employing over 2,200 people — more than half its global workforce; Hollister, whose Kaunas manufacturing plant and shared services centre together employ around 900; and DexCom, whose Vilnius Global Business Services hub has grown to over 500. Across all three life sciences sectors, Lithuania employs over 7,400 people (Sodra, January 2026).

Unlike the pharmaceutical industry, the recruiting and staffing market in Lithuania is dominated by domestic employment agencies. This works well for generalist hiring, but when it comes to Life Sciences, specialist options are limited. In Lithuania, Pharmadrome competes with a small number of other domestic recruitment firms. Some clients use insourcing services to overcome headcount approval challenges — we handle search and selection while another firm handles the contracting and payroll.

Most of Pharmadrome's searches in Lithuania are for permanent placements, as contracting is not common amongst pharma companies in the Baltics. Exceptions exist in clinical research, but part-time supporting functions (regulatory affairs, pharmacoeconomics, medical translations, etc.) are typically outsourced to service providers. We offer a full range of permanent placement options from contingency to retained search.

The Labour Code adopted in September 2016 and in force since July 2017 liberalised employment relations and has since been amended substantially, most notably in August 2022 when over 40 articles were revised (teise.pro). Key provisions include: fixed-term contracts capped at 2 years (previously five); a 20% ceiling on fixed-term contracts company-wide; a maximum 3-month probationary period; and annual leave of 20 working days (previously 28 calendar days).

On termination by the employer without fault, the notice period is one month, or two weeks for employment under one year. These are doubled for employees within five years of pension age, and tripled for those raising a child under 14, raising a disabled child under 18, pregnant women, disabled employees, those within two years of pension age, and — following the 2022 amendments — employees with a certified serious illness (Ministry of Social Security and Labour). Employees resigning give 20 calendar days' notice, or 5 working days by mutual agreement (profesinesajunga.lt).