October 10-14
An Indian pharmaceutical firm, Cipla Ltd., has announced it will set up a manufacturing plant in Iran.
Cipla will own a 75 percent stake in the plant being set up in partnership with its local distributor, which it strangely did not name. Cipla will invest about 2.25 billion rupees ($36.65 million) over three years for machinery and equipment in the facility.
The investment is part of Cipla’s strategy to boost its presence in Iran’s $4 billion pharmaceuticals market, which Cipla said is growing at about 13 percent annually despite Iranian government claims that sanctions have reduced the supply of medicines drastically.
The sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union allow trade in humanitarian goods such as foods and medicine, so Cipla’s investment should not cause any problems for the firm.
“Cipla has been providing medicines to patients in Iran for several years and believes that Iranian patients cannot be denied medicines due to sanctions,” the company said in a statement to Reuters Tuesday.
“We have observed a high prevalence of respiratory disorders and cancer cases in Iran. There were also patients suffering with diseases like thalassemia, HIV/AIDS and heart diseases, who have been at a risk due to the impact of sanctions,” it said.
The company said it does not expect any impact on its US and European businesses due to its investments in Iran.