Iran, Second Producer of Recombinant Flu Vaccine

According to ashoora reporting from Fars news : abdolqaffari said that his company has managed to produce the recombinant vaccine for seasonal influenza, adding that the US used to be the only country to have the know-how for production of the vaccine.

“There are two methods to produce vaccines for seasonal influenza, namely, egg-based technique and recombinant technique,” he said, adding, “The latter was only used by the US and the rest of the world used the former.”

Abdolqaffari further said that all the necessary tests have been conducted on the new vaccine and the clinical studies started last year and are underway.

He added that 430 people have received the vaccine with satisfactory results.

Iran has taken long strides in producing different types of drugs and medical equipment and exported them to many foreign states.

In February 2020 it was announced that an Iranian knowledge-based company was waiting for the final legal permissions to start mass production and sales of the first version of homegrown flu vaccines, with India, Pakistan and the UAE in the waiting list as the potential buyers of the product.

Dr. Esmayeel Saberfar, the CEO of a knowledge-based company active in producing flu vaccines, said his company has obtained the technical know-how for the development of the vaccine after ten years of research and experiment.

“Manufacturers of this type of vaccine are in France, Germany, Belgium, the US, Italy, Japan, and South Korea; foreign-made flu vaccines are currently being used in the country,” he said.

According to him, about $8 million worth of these vaccines are imported annually, adding that the domestic production of the vaccines would save the country the same amount of forex.

“Although the vaccine has not yet been mass-produced, other countries such as India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have already made a request for it,” he added.