Events | Number 1, June 2003 | Merck Joins Iran’s Drug Industry

Merck Joins Iran’s Drug Industry

Tolid Darou of Iran, and the internationally renowned German company, Merck, shall introduce to the Iranian market six new drugs that are being produced through the cooperation of the two sides. These drugs will be available in the pharmacies of the country, next month. These drugs are either entirely new or modified for new properties and intended for the Iranian market. In an exclusive interview with Events Magazine, Dr Mahdi Mohammadzadeh, the managing director of Tolid Darou, gave some details on his company and the new products. Excerpts follow:

Events: What are the main features of the new drugs?

Dr Mahdi Mohammadzadeh:
Recently the major drug manufacturers of the world have developed a method of producing drugs with longer-lasting effects, for easier administration to the patient. These drugs give their properties at slower rates, so that the patient will only have to take, say, one pill per day instead of three. These are called “sustained release” medicaments. This is an entirely new generation of drugs.

E: How long have you been cooperating with Merck?

MM: Perhaps I should first begin by telling your readers something about this huge company, Merck I mean. The company was established in 1668 in Germany. Today it is an international company with about 34,000 employees and it has 192 branches across 55 countries of the world, and 56 research centres in 22 countries. The annual turnover of the company is 3.323 billion euros. Our cooperation with Merck began some years ago. It was indeed a turning point in the history of our company and in its production trend. Furthermore, because many of our products are approved by Merck and/or are produced under their license, we are now able to expand our exports considerably. We are also producing many more products with the cooperation of Merck. Indeed, we shall be introducing 35 new products in the near future.

E: Would you tell us something about your own company?

MM: Tolid Darou has been operating for many years now. But about a year ago the company decided to implement a series of reforms and developments, in production, its administrative system and financial structure. By production I refer primarily to quality improvement and development of new products. In fact, we already produce about 100 medicines and 150 items of cosmetic and healthcare products. Our products already meet the highest international standards. But we wish to improve further. We have already gained a 12% share of the domestic market for medicines and cosmetics, and have a total annual sales of 250 billion rials, 10% of which comes from exports. These exports go chiefly to the Persian Gulf littoral states, Afghanistan, Iraq and Central Asian new states but we are now very busy with our marketing efforts in Europe where we have 14 sales agencies. In the year ending 20th March 2002 the company enjoyed a growth of 35% over the previous year. The growth in sales brought a 100% rise in profits and the present realized dividend per share is 1,000 rials that is 850 rials over and above the anticipated growth. These growths have encouraged us to establish new companies and already Takestan Tolid Darou Co, Veterinary Drugs Production Co, Isfahan Tolid Darou Co, Tede Drug Distribution Co, and Tede Trading Co, have been formed. We are also carrying out a feasibility study on the establishment of a pharmaceutical company, with its production plant to be located in France.

E: Do you only cooperate with Merck as an international entity?

MM: Indeed not! We also work with Biokill of Switzerland, Vandal and Pharomed of Austria, Stifle of the UK, Strand and Setraco of France. We work with some of them to jointly produce drugs and health-care items or we work under their licences. Presently, we are negotiating with Pierre Fabre of France towards the production of cosmetics and healthcare products. Here I should make one point clear: that all our products are marked “Made in Iran”, and we are proud of this fact and believe it to be a source of pride for our entire nation. We sell our products in some countries, such as Afghanistan and Tajikistan, simply because they bear this mark.

E: We understand that you are becoming increasingly active in herbal products as well.

MM: Yes indeed. You see Iran is very rich in herbs that have healing properties or are suitable for the production of cosmetics and healthcare products. And there are good markets both within and outside the country. Both markets are very promising and the local market alone assures us that we can considerably expand this line. So, we are or will be offering 23 different new herbal shampoos with wonderful scents and excellent properties. Also in the near future we shall be supplying herbal depilatory cream (for the first time in Iran), herbal toothpaste, and herbal black hair color. We have produced shaving foam of better quality even than similar foreign products, at lower prices, and in the near future we will present five types of shower gels and a special toothpaste. Furthermore, for the first time in this country Tolid Darou will produce a special type of insecticide with no harm on the human body. The managing director of a Swiss pharmaceutical company ate some of the insecticide before us to show it is harmless. The company will present shortly 40 cosmetics for skin protection and 68 other new cosmetics, all in cooperation with Setraco of France. Additionally, there will be 30 new cosmetics that will be produced in cooperation with Strand of France. According to schedule these products were to be available five months ago, but due to administrative and regulatory restrictions we are behind schedule.

E: Would your company welcome foreign investment?

MM: We would certainly welcome any investor who would be interested in joint ventures with Iranian companies. This would very much interest us indeed. We would be delighted to receive enquiries.