Baku to set up production of high-quality medicines

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Azerbaijan and Iran will establish joint production of 84 medicines at a pharmaceutical plant in Pirallahi district of Baku. In this connection, certain changes were made to the memorandum signed between Iran and Azerbaijan in the field of pharmaceuticals.

There have been some changes in the pharmacy memorandum signed between Iran and Azerbaijan, Javad Jahangirzadeh, Iran's ambassador to Azerbaijan, said at a press conference, Trend reports.

According to Jahangirzadeh, the change is due to production of 84 medicines in the pharmaceutical plant.

The ambassador also added that it is necessary to issue a license for the general production and wholesale of drugs.

As such, discussions should be held with the relevant authorities in Azerbaijan, including the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economy for issuance of a separate license for each drug, he said, adding that this would require some time, as Azerbaijan wants to produce high-quality medicines.

According to Jahangirzadeh, negotiations were held with pharmaceutical companies in Europe, India and other countries. "These companies have been presented to the Azerbaijani side. Now it is up to Azerbaijan to decide which license to work with."

"Soon, representatives of a company will visit Azerbaijan and negotiations on production of medicines will be held," he said.

The opening ceremony for the joint Azerbaijan-Iran pharmaceutical plant, Caspian Pharmed, was held in the Pirallahi District of Baku in January 2017.

The shareholders of the plant, which will be built in the Pirallahi industrial park, are the Iranian company Tamin Pharmaceutical Investment Company with a 49 percent share, the Azerbaijan Investment Company (25 percent) and Azersun Holding (26 percent).

At this stage, the enterprise will produce 84 medicines in 54 active ingredients. Among them - painkillers, vitamins, anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics, cardiovascular, antihistamine, anti-allergic and anti-fungal drugs, drugs to solve problems with blood pressure, drugs used in gastroenterology, as well as for the treatment of diseases of the nervous system.

The Memorandum of Understanding on the construction of a joint pharmaceutical factory was signed on April 21, 2016.

At present, there are four residents in the Pirallahi industrial park - the joint Azerbaijani-Russian plant Hayat Pharm, the Azerbaijani-Iranian plant Caspian Pharmed, the plant of Diamed Co, and the plant of IFFA. The construction of these plants is still ongoing.

Note that this year Azerbaijan plans to produce pharmaceutical products worth 1.3 million manats. In subsequent years, the production of this product will be expanded. Thus, in 2020, the volume of production will reach 38.8 million manats, in 2021 - 39.5 million manats, in 2022 - 40.2 million manats.

The sharp increase in production is due to the fact that pharmaceutical plants in the Pirallahi industrial park will start operating in the country next year.

In addition, Pirallahi Industrial Park of Azerbaijan may become an important center for the local production of pharmaceuticals and therefore German pharmaceutical companies are interested in this sector and watch the Azerbaijani market, considering possible market entry in 2019-2020.

It’s great possibility, taking into account that Germany, together with Switzerland and Turkey, are considered the most important medicine supplying countries in the world.

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