Iran 1st Country to Apply Plasma Therapy for Eye Diseases

Iran is the first country that uses plasma to cure ocular diseases, a health official said on Saturday, adding that the special plasma surgery is being used to treat nearly 15 eye diseases.

Plasma Assistance Non-Invasive Surgery (PANIS) inventor Farhad Nejat said that Iran is the first country that applies the method in the world to treat eye diseases, and noted that 14-15 eye diseases that needed operating room and anesthesia are now treated by the PANIS method.

“The International Eye Surgery Academy has approved the PANIS method,” he said.

The inventor made it clear that the method’s animal trial had taken around one and half years and its human trial began two years ago.

Nejat went on to say that many European countries like Italy, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, and some of the regional countries like Turkey are exchanging their experiences with Iran.

“Over the past 20 years, plasma therapy has been applied for treating cancer, dentistry, dermatology, scar, and in the past four years has successfully been applied on ocular surface disorders, which compromise the integrity of the cornea surface and conjunctiva,” he stated.

“PANIS generator is made in Italy, but the method is absolutely indigenized,” Nejat highlighted. 

“Safety, easy use, low price, the fast-paced wound healing process, and promoting ocular surface regeneration in different pathological conditions are the most noteworthy features of the method,” the ophthalmologist stressed.

The ceremony of the PANIS method introduction was held in Tehran on 8th January 2021. Specialists of an Iranian knowledge-based company introduced the discovery of a new method to treat eye diseases without the need for operating-room, pain, and anesthesia.

In a relevant event in late December, Iran’s Health Minister Saeed Namaki said that the country has a century of experience and know-how in the production of vaccines, and announced that the human trial of the COVID-19 vaccine has started with the first injection of the domestic vaccine.

“We have been producing vaccines in the country for a hundred years. Pasteur Institute of Iran was set up in 1920 and Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute was founded in 1924,” Namaki said on December 29 on the sidelines of the unveiling ceremony of the vaccine and the first phase of the clinical trial of Iranian-made COVID-19 vaccine on 56 volunteers.

“We were the first producer of vaccines in Asia and we have sent vaccines to many countries in the world,” he added.

“Due to our record in vaccine production, we are trying to offer new vaccines with the help of the Science and Technology Vice-Presidency, knowledge-based companies, the Pasteur Institute of Iran, the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute and the private sector,” the minister noted.

“We have developed various platforms for coronavirus, including the vaccine, the first human phase of which was performed today,” Namaki said, and added, “Another platform is also underway at Razi Institute, and its animal tests are underway and will soon receive a human testing license.”

“We hope that we will soon see the start of the second human trial phase of this national vaccine and then the third phase to be followed by its mass production,” he continued.

The Headquarters for Executing the Order of Imam (Khomeini) announced the start of the first phase of the clinical trial of Iranian-made COVID-19 vaccine on 56 volunteers in Tehran on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 vaccine produced by EIKO has been licensed by the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education.