TEHRAN - The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has received an order to produce over 60 new radiopharmaceuticals for the domestic market.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, AEOI spokesman, stated on Tuesday that the healthcare industry has received a lot of support from the nuclear organization recently.

He announced that the Food and Drug Administration of the Health Ministry has awarded the AEOI a contract to manufacture 66 new radiopharmaceuticals.

“A range of domestically produced radiopharmaceuticals for cancer diagnosis and treatment are being developed with world-class quality,” Kamalvandi stated. 

In December 2022, AEOI director general Mohammad Eslami announced that Iran aspires to become a worldwide hub for the production of deuterium pharmaceuticals.

“In a not-too-distant future we will turn into a hub for manufacturing drugs based on deuterium which are good alternatives to chemical drugs and have lower side effects in comparison (to those drugs),” Eslami said. 

In April 2021, the AEOI began the second phase of its deuterium production unit at the Arak heavy water reactor facility in central Iran.

Back in July, Eslami also announced that Iran can produce radiopharmaceuticals for detecting and treating ailments.

Iran will soon become a major producer and exporter of radiopharmaceuticals given the capacities that have been developed, Eslami noted.

The nuclear chief praised the achievements in plasma science and technology and said that local scientists had also made significant advancements in developing radiation technologies utilized in the agricultural and medical fields.

He also referred to the production of high-quality heavy water in the country, stating that Iran has established a dominant global position in this market and is able to export the excess of heavy water to other nations. 

Back in June, during a TV program, Eslami said that Iran had achieved 159 goals in the previous Persian calendar year (ending March 20) despite U.S. sanctions and other obstacles imposed by the West.

Eslami stated that young Iranian scientists made successes in a variety of sectors in the nuclear field, such as irradiation systems, microwave, radiopharmaceuticals, and plasma technology.