Iranian scientists produce raw material of anticoagulant drugs

Iranian scientists produced raw material for anticoagulant drugs which prevent formation of blood clots in patients suffering from heart and coronary diseases. Coagulation (thrombogenesis) is the process by which blood forms clots and often results in heart attacks in patients. “We have managed to produce the raw material of a drug which prevents blood coagulation in heart and coronary patients in our research …,” Lead Researcher and Faculty Member of Shahid Beheshti Medical Sciences University Farzad Kebarfar said. He further underlined the low costs of the manufacturing of the home-made drug, saying once the medicine is mass produced, its costs will amount to only 20 percent of the price of the foreign-made drugs being imported by Iran now. “We tried to produce the raw material of this drug in Iran in a bid to start the formulation phase for the production of this medicine after obtaining the relevant license from the Health Ministry,” Kebarfar said, adding, “We expect the drug to enter the market next (Iranian) year (which will start on March 21, 2014).” The researcher reiterated that there will be no more need to importing the medicine after the start of the mass production of the home-made drug. Iran has taken wide strides in science and technology, particularly in medical and medicinal fields, in recent years. In August, former Iranian Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi boasted the country's astonishing progress in producing medical tools, equipment and drugs, and said Iran stands 12 in the world ranking of biomedicine production. "Iran ranks 1st in the region, 4th in Asia and 12th in the world in producing biological drugs," Vahid Dastjerdi said in a ceremony in Tehran at the time to unveil 8 new types of hi-tech medicines used for treating various kinds of diseases. She also announced that the global exports value of biomedicine industry stands at $1,000bln, and Iran can have a large share of this figure.