Novo Aims to Be Ahead of Pharma Pack With Iran Investment

Friday, January 22, 2016

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, the world’s top insulin supplier, expects to be ahead of the pack now nuclear sanctions are lifted in Iran, thanks to a continuous presence and a pre-emptive investment plan.

The country is an attractive target for Big Pharma seeking to sell new medicines to its large and growing population, but going in at ground level and securing good relations with authorities will be key, industry executives say.

Medicines were an exception in the nuclear sanctions imposed on Iran, thanks to exemptions for essential drugs and other humanitarian goods. Yet shipping drugs into the country was far from trouble-free, due to tight curbs on financial transactions and restrictions on technology reaching the Islamic republic.

“With the sanctions being lifted, we can operate more freely,” Jakob Riis, Novo’s head of marketing told Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Source: Reueters (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care, Investing