One week after the Iranian regime’s Majlis (Parliament) Research Center reported an 18.5% decline in pharmaceutical production among publicly traded companies in the first half of the year, the regime’s Ham-Mihan newspaper has published a report on the exodus of pharmacists from the country and the crisis in the pharmaceutical industry.
In mid-December 2024, the Majlis Research Center released a report on the state of the country’s industries, indicating that the pharmaceutical sector has suffered the second-largest decline in production, following the wood and paper industry.
According to the report, pharmaceutical production by publicly traded companies declined by 2.6% in the spring and 18.5% in the summer of this year.
The report did not provide information on the total pharmaceutical production in Iran. However, Jaafar Ghaem-Panah, the acting head of the Presidential Office, had previously reported a 30% decline in the country’s overall pharmaceutical production.
Pharmaceutical Experts Leaving Iran
On Tuesday, December 24, 2024, Ham-Mihan newspaper reported that pharmaceutical industry professionals, due to payment delays and a lack of a promising future, have either chosen to leave domestic companies or relocate their production facilities to neighboring countries.
These companies are not only struggling with government-imposed price controls and a lack of foreign currency for importing raw materials, but they are also burdened by massive unpaid debts owed by the government.
Government’s Massive Debt to the Pharmaceutical Industry
Mehdi Pirsalehi, head of the Food and Drug Administration of Iran, recently announced that the government owes 330 trillion rials (approximately $407.5 million) to the pharmaceutical industry and 220 trillion rials (approximately $271.6 million) to the medical equipment sector.
The Director-General of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Department at the Food and Drug Administration stated last week that a major pharmaceutical holding, which has had 140 trillion rials (approximately $172.8 million) in sales, is currently owed 80 trillion rials (approximately $99 million) by the government.
Regarding this company, he added: “They cannot even pay their workers’ salaries and say they will send them to sit in front of the Ministry of Health because they cannot afford to pay their wages.”
This official also reported that half of the shortages in injectable medicines are due to problems faced by this very company, which has stated: “We do not have the money to buy vials.”
Declining Production, Reduced Imports, and Drug Shortages
Alongside the production decline, customs data shows that pharmaceutical imports decreased by 13.6% last year, dropping to $2.3 billion.
Between March and September, only $1.1 billion worth of pharmaceuticals have been imported into the country.
The decline in both domestic production and imports has resulted in shortages of many essential medicines across the country.
