Official: Iranian Knowledge-Based Firms Produce 4,500 Types of Drugs, Medical Equipment

“The medical and health sector is one of the advantages of the Iranian economy, and fortunately, we have made significant progress in this area; an instance is the health tourism which has attracted an average of three million health tourists to the country annually,” said Reza Bakhshi Aani, the deputy for the development of the knowledge-based economy at the Iranian Vice-Presidency for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy.

“This has generated an income of nearly $3.5 billion for the country,” he added.

“At present, the country needs 4,500 types of medicine and medical equipment which are supplied by the knowledge-based companies,” Bakhshi Aani said.

Earlier, in February, Bakhshi Aani had said that Iran’s knowledge-based companies recorded sales of over 25 billion since the start of the current Persian calendar year (to end on March 20).

He added that the government is facilitating the integration of elite talent into the economy to help them develop ideas, prototype products, and commercialize their innovations.

Bakhshi Aani noted that Iran has nearly 10,000 knowledge-based firms, and their sales performance this year has set a new record, though further growth is expected, adding that nearly $5.0 billion of these sales came from high-tech products.

Despite economic constraints affecting businesses across various sectors, knowledge-based firms have leveraged their technological edge to maintain strong sales, he stated.

Bakhshi Aani also underlined that Iran’s knowledge-based firms have exported around $2.5 billion worth of products this year, including nearly $500 million in high-tech exports.

He expressed the hope that with continued government and institutional support, the contribution of these firms to Iran’s economy would further expand.

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