Mostafa Ghanei, Chairman of the Biotechnology Development Council, said the country enjoys desirable conditions regarding the production of biopharmaceuticals, adding that the Iranian produced biotech drugs are currently being exported to 17 countries in the world.

“No one could imagine that a country which used to be a major importer of biopharmaceuticals is now an exporter of them,” he said.

Ghanei estimated that about $1 billion would be saved each year due to the country’s self-sufficiency in producing its required biopharmaceuticals, adding “currently, biopharmaceuticals top the list of Iran’s imported medicine, and the Biotechnology Development Council has plans to replace this imported volume with domestic production in three years.”

On Feb. 4, Ghanei had said that the country had obtained the technical know-how for production of 10 new biopharmaceuticals, which would be produced and enter the market in two or three years.

Mostafa Ghanei, Chairman of the Biotechnology Development Council, told Mehr News correspondent on Monday that in the past years, 22 biopharmaceuticals have entered the country’s market, deeming it a good progress for Iran considering the heavy sanctions imposed on the country and on all biotechnology equipment.

He said Iran is unrivaled in the region in the field of biotechnology.

“According to the Twenty Year National Vision (Vision 2025), we need to have claimed first place in the region in biotechnology in six years. We have already achieved that ranking and we are ahead of the schedule,” he said.

“We aim to become number one in Asia in terms of biopharmaceutical production. At the moment, we are ranked second after Japan,” he added.

Ghanei further maintained that the country has obtained the technical know-how for the production of ten new biopharmaceuticals, which will enter the market in two or three years. He added that with support given to the drugs produced this year, the country can maintain its second place or improve it to the first place in Asia under a five or six year plan.