The paper provides an overview of theoretical knowledge about the pharmaceutical industry and pharmaceutical product placement systems in Europe and worldwide. The placement of pharmaceutical products on the Croatian market is investigated in particular. The strict legal regulation monitoring the production, distribution and consumption of medicinal products gives the market of pharmaceutical drugs a specificity which distinguishes it from other markets that are influenced by supply and demand. In addition, it acts like a barrier to the entry of foreign pharmaceutical products into the Croatian market. Consequently, foreign pharmaceutical companies use various forms of acquisition and strategic partnership in order to enter the Croatian market. Horizontal and vertical acquisitions are accompanied by significant financial investments with the risk of their return or lower rates of return compared to entering other markets. Business risk is accompanied by both credit and price risk. The paper shows that domestically owned pharmaceutical wholesalers have a higher placement of pharmaceutical products compared to both drugstores in strategic partnership with foreign pharmaceutical wholesalers and pharmaceutical wholesalers which are fully foreign-owned. The reason for this may be seen in the strategies they apply, which refer to vertical and horizontal acquisition within the domestic pharmaceutical sector. Vertical and horizontal acquisitions within the national pharmaceutical sector make it possible to reduce credit and price risk and increase the volume of sales of pharmaceutical products on the domestic market.