Iran to unveil several new home-made medicines in near future

Speaking on Saturday, Deputy Head of Iranian Ministry of Health for Research and Technology Mostafa Qanei said that Iranian researchers have succeeded to produce six new drugs, including several medications for breast cancer and Factor VIII deficiency. He added that Iran will unveil the new medicines by September, 2012, he announced. The official further stressed that the new drugs are as effective as the foreign versions of the medication but are cheaper. In March Iranian Health Minister Marziyeh Vahid Dastjerdi announced that the country produces 96% of its needs to different types of drugs and medications through domestic production. Iran has taken wide strides in science and technology, particularly in medical and medicinal fields, in recent years. In a landmark pharmaceutical progress, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced in January that Iranian scientists have managed to synthesize two new types of radiomedicines to treat malignant types of cancer. "The Iranian scientists and researchers of the AEOI's Nuclear Science and Technology Research Center succeeded in producing two new radiomedicines for the first time to cure malignant cancers," AEOI Spokesman Hamid Khadem Qaemi said at the time. He named the radiomedicines as Lutetium-177 Phosponate (EDTMP) for bone pain palliation in metastatic prostate cancer and Iodine 131 Chlorotoxin to treat malignant glioma. Also, Iran in December unveiled five different radiomedicine projects with applications for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of a number of diseases. In September, Iran announced that it plans to synthesize 20 kinds of radiomedicine inside the country, stressing that its scientists are capable of supplying the 20%-enriched uranium needed for the production of such drugs. "Iran has gained the necessary preparedness to produce 20 radiomedicines and we will provide the 20% (enriched) fuel needed for the production of these medicines this year," Deputy Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) for Planning, International and Parliamentary Affairs Massoud Akhavan-Fard told FNA in September. In addition to the Tehran research reactor which has long been used by radioisotope production, Iran also plans to build four other research reactors in the other parts of the country, he added.