TEHRAN- Iranian medicines are exported to 30 countries, announced the acting director of Food and Drug Administration.

Mohammadreza Shanesaz said a special department for “national production” might be opened in Food and Drug Administration to further support the domestic production of medicines, ISNA reported on Monday. 

“The necessary paperwork for establishing this department is being prepared. Anyway, we have to expand our support for local producers and knowledge-based companies to smooth out this process,” Shanesaz remarked.

According to Shanesaz, Currently, 120 factories in the country produce medicine and 70 factories produce raw pharmaceutical materials. There are also 56 distributing companies and 12,000 pharmacies all around the country. 

“Fortunately, we have now the capacity to produce any new medicine that are deemed necessary in only two years,” he said. 

According to Shanesaz, the Health Ministry has decided for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to open a “base” in the ministry. 

“The FDA base can constantly screen the inventory of medicines and raw materials, so that no problem will arise. This office will also expedite the process of supplying and distributing the pharmaceuticals,” he added. 

In January, the vice president for science and technology Sourena Sattari announced that Knowledge-based companies meet about 97 percent of the domestic market’s need to medicine which saves $550 million for the country. 

SJ/MQ/MG