Official: Biotechnology Helps Reduction of 1.8 Billion Dollars in Imports of Biomedicine to Iran

“Biotechnology has been able to reduce $1.8bln from the import of biomedicine. Therefore, it can be concluded that biotechnology has been one of the most effective technologies in the knowledge-based economy with the lowest cost,” said Mostafa Qaneyee, the secretary of the Biotechnology Development Headquarters affiliated to Iranian Vice-Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy.

He noted that biotechnology forms 3% of the global market, adding that this 3 percent is equal to $30,000 billion dollars.

“It is also a fact that biotechnology is a type of technology that can achieve 10% of the country's gross domestic product,” Qaneyee said.

Iran ranks 12th in the world and first in West Asia in terms of biotechnology, as 9.5 percent of the income of knowledge-based companies and more than 60 percent of their exports are related to biotechnology.

Foreign exchange savings of $1 billion per year by producing 22 biopharmaceuticals, gaining the first rank in biotechnology products and vaccines in West Asia, and presence among the top five biotechnology producers in Asia are among the country’s achievements, Qaneyee had said in October 2020.

So far, 27 biotechnology medicines, 12 vaccine, 90 pharmaceutical raw materials projects, and 55 projects in agriculture and food security have been implemented, he explained.

Some 8 major companies are responsible for managing the country's 117 priority products in the fields of biopharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical raw materials, vaccines, probiotics, equipment, and chemical drugs, Qaneyee underlined.

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