Locally-Made Medicines Curbing Capital Flight

EghtesadOnline: With the production of 22 biopharmaceuticals, Iran has been able to save $1 billion, an official with the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology says.

News ID: ۷۸۵۴۵۸

07 March 2020

Mostafa Qanei, one of the office’s top secretaries, told Fars News Agency, “28 new locally-made biopharmaceuticals are to be introduced in the market in the coming months”.

Qanei noted that the product’s import is extremely costly, according to Financial Tribune.

By relying on local tech firms’ capabilities and tapping into knowledge-based companies’ potentials, “Iran has been able to curb costs”.

According to the vice presidential office, two-thirds of Iran’s pharmaceutical needs are supplied by domestic producers.

Iranian startups and knowledge-based companies, which are active in a wide range of fields, have been flourishing over recent years.

According to Sorena Sattari, the vice president for science and technology, the government has put support for the tech ecosystem high on its agenda since President Hassan Rouhani took office during his first term in 2013.

Since then, numerous startups and knowledge-based firms have been able to promote their businesses, not only in the domestic but also in foreign markets.

Sattari said Iranian knowledge-based companies and tech firms have earned 1 quadrillion rials ($6.6 billion) from the export of technological products in the first half of the current Iranian year (started March 2019).

He noted that revenues have been on an upward trajectory over the past several years, increasing from 600 trillion rials ($4 billion) in the year ending March 2018 to 900 trillion rials ($6 billion) last year.

"Given the domestic potential and enthusiasm of tech teams, exports will soon reach 5 quadrillion rials [$33.3 billion]. It is not a farfetched goal," he added.

Sattari said these figures prove that the solution to economic hardships facing Iran today can be found inside and not outside the country.

The vice presidential office reports that more than 4,700 knowledge-based companies are operating in the country.