Iran's insulin production and how it affects pharma

Y. Shashidhar, partner & managing director, South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Frost & Sullivan talks about how the local production of insulin from Novo Nordisk’s new plant in Iran could impact the pharma market

With around 9% of the population suffering from diabetes, Iran represents a huge market for insulin.

In fact, over the last few years the number of diabetic patients has been increasing at a CAGR of around 15-16%.

Presently, around 65-70% of the insulin requirements are imported into Iran, so it makes absolute sense for manufacturers to explore setting local manufacturing facilities to cater to this huge market.

Foreign entities should in fact explore tie ups with local manufacturing facilities and groups in order to gain access to the local distribution network.

The government is also providing tax exemptions for setting up pharma units that can cater to the local demand as well as focus on export markets, as Iran is pushing to be a major player in the regional market.

Insulin currently represents only 2.7% of the total pharma expenditure in Iran. The price advantage of domestic production vis-a-vis imports of insulin is almost 2.5 times, and this is also another reason for foreign companies to explore setting up local manufacturing facilities.

The proposed Novo Nordisk plant - which is likely to commence production around 2020 - will target the local population first, to then target exports to cater to the regional demand.