Islamic Republic of Iran unveils 12 domestically produced medicines

Iran unveiled 12 types of domestically produced medicines, including nine anti-cancer drugs, during a ceremony held at Pardis Technology Park in Tehran on Sunday.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a number of other officials attended the ceremony.

According to ISNA, Bortezomib, Cytarabine, Capecitabine, Erlotinib, Vorinostat, and Irinotecan are some of the drugs which were unveiled.

Health Minister Mohammad Hassan Tariqat-Monfared told the ceremony that Iran was previously importing the nine anti-cancer drugs at a cost of 2 trillion rials (more than 80 million dollars) but it has now succeeded in producing these medicines at home by spending just 20,000 rials (over 800,000 dollars) on medical research.

He also said that Iranian researchers had succeeded in producing an influenza vaccine in the country.

In addition, President Ahmadinejad delivered a speech during the ceremony and said that only six countries were able to produce the influenza vaccine.

Ahmadinejad also defended his administration’s performance in the areas of science and technology over the past eight years.