Credit: AFP
The recent establishment of Insulin production line in Iran by the Danish company Novonordisk amid the U.S. sanctions has highlighted the importance of reviewing the Iranian pharmaceutical sector. Generally, the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and market in Iran during the last decades is attributed to various factors; such as applying industrial and trade policies, currency revenues by exporting of raw materials and manufactured goods, population growth and changes in pharmaceutical expenditures that correlate with income per capita.
Liberalising reforms under a mixed public-private system since the 1990s, and article 44 of the constitution aimed to promote market competition, which is commonly identified by key characteristics such as lowering barriers to entry, increasing the number of sellers and decreasing the concentration, and product and price differentiation. Since then, in proportion to the increase in international trade, the import of high-cost patented products and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) began to increase.
