68 PERSPECTIVES ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS | VOL 44 | 2026 Croatia’s manufacturing base, EU membership, and the policy momentum generated by the EU Pharmaceutical Reform together provide a credible foundation. What converts that foundation into trajectory is the institutional will to design policy instruments as precisely as the production capabilities they are meant to build. Conclusion Croatia’s pharmaceutical sector tells a story of unrealized potential. The discovery of azithromycin proved the country could compete at the frontier of global innovation; the loss of PLIVA proved it could not sustain that position without the ownership structures, reinvestment discipline, and policy frameworks to protect it. EU accession deepened the trajectory, compressing margins and extending exclusivity periods even as it opened new markets and raised regulatory standards. The result is a sector that manufactures well but innovates little, exports generics while importing the medicines its population most needs, and faces demographic and fiscal pressures that its current capabilities cannot resolve. The path forward exists but requires deliberate policy. Azithromycin showed what Croatia could do. The pathway described in this article describes what it would take to do it again, not overnight, but grain by grain, stone by stone. References Aralica, J. (2009). Conducting trials in Croatia. Applied Clinical Trials. Banić Tomišić, Z., & Inić, S. (2024). Pharmaceutical company PLIVA: From Nobel laureate Vladimir Prelog to global blockbuster - antibiotic azithromycin. Die Pharmazie, 79, 246–257. doi: 10.1691/ph.2024.4047 BMI. (2025, October). Croatia pharmaceuticals report: Quarterly report: Forecasts to 2034. Fitch Solutions Group. Brezinščak, T., Komar, D., Pavićić, I., & Radenović, M. (2023). Securing Croatia’s future competitiveness. McKinsey & Company. 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