Tehran Times Political Desk

@T=TEHRAN - The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran announced on Sunday that the mass production of Molybdenum 99 - technetium 99m radiopharmaceutical has started and medical centers will be supplied with the drug within a few days.
“The therapeutic compound, which is used for diagnosing many diseases, including those that require a scan from heart muscles, marrow, salivary glands, thyroid, parathyroid, lungs, liver, kidney etc. has been thoroughly produced by Iranian scientists and the alumni of national universities,” Dr. Mohammad Ghannadi, the chairman of research center for nuclear science and technology, told reports at a press conference on Sunday.
In 120 centers for nuclear medicine in Iran, 10,000 patients use this radiopharmaceutical every week, Ghannadi said, adding that from the next week on the nuclear research center will supply two third of the country’s need for this compound, Ghannadi stated.
“Production of this compound at home was important not only in terms of technical (progress) but also in terms of economic saving,” he noted.
Iran used to spend over $3 million a year to import required amounts of Mo99-tc99m, but now a significant proportion of the country’s need can be produced at home, he explained