The company started business in 1977 as part of a Multinational Company. In 1978 it began to manufacture products focussed initially on liquid forms (syrups, ampoules and solutions). Two years later the company started manufacturing solid forms (tablets and capsules) and semi-solid forms (ointments, gels and suppositories).

In line with new trends in market strategy, the aim was to create new and highly specialised centres of excellence. In the case of Sidefarma, the overall group strategy decreed that it would specialise in solid forms - in particular the small and medium-sized batch segment - while continuing to manufacture semi-solid forms like creams, ointments, gels and suppositories.

In 1994/95 the company completely redesigned its premises in order to fully comply with European standards governing the manufacture of medicines (the cGMP rules), and won the Entrepreneurial Merit Prize awarded by the municipality of Loures. On completion of this reorganisation it has been successfully audited for its Quality Management System and awarded the ISO 9002:1995 certification in May 1998; in March 2004 performed the transition to ISO 9001:2000 certification, which was renewed in March 2007. The company will be audited in 2009 for next renewal under 9001:2008 terms.