TEHRAN, Iran, Nov.23
Trend:
Iran's pharmaceutical industry is in need of government's supervision over production and import of active and raw materials in addition to official pricing, the chairman of the Syndicate of Manufacturers of Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, and Pharmaceutical Packaging Faramarz Ekhteraei told Trend in an interview.
The price of imported raw materials used in chemical and pharmaceutical industries is calculated based on tonnage rather than international price, so a supervisory system is needed to manage to price, Ekhteraei noted.
Proper supervision on importing raw materials will reduce the price of medicine in the domestic market by 40 percent, he indicated.
"Iran domestically produces 75 percent of active ingredients for pharmaceutical industry. Instead of providing $2 billion for importing some 25 percent of the sector's needs, the government could use these funds to help domestic producers instead," he said.
Most of the imported medicines are being repacked and sold under license of foreign brands, so there should be supervision over pharmaceutical imports, Ekhteraei noted.