MNA � Domestically manufactured rotavirus�and rabies vaccines will enter Iranian market by 2019, Head of Pasteur Institute of Iran (IPI)�announced Monday.�


According to Head of Pasteur Institute of Iran (IPI), Dr. Houman Kaghazian, the manufacture of rabies vaccine went underway at Pasteur Institute five years ago, and will be ready to enter the Iranian market in two years� time.

Each dose of the vaccine costs about $6 and the country needs 500,000 vials each year, which means three million dollars� worth of money leaving the country. The moment the domestically-manufactured vaccine hits the market, this amount will be reduced�and then drop to zero.

Dr. Kaghazian maintained that the vaccine will be produced by utilizing the capacities of knowledge-based companies, noting that the rabies vaccine will be prescribed for those people who are at risk of getting bitten by animals such as dogs or cats.

Stressing that evaluations have reported the quality of the vaccine as satisfactory, he said the Institute is planning to produce other vaccines in the near future.

�We are planning to release rotavirus vaccine into the market within two years,� he said. �The vaccine is given to infants to protect them against infections of rotavirus, which are the causes of one of the most common types of diarrhea and any type of disease associated with it in infants.�

According to head of Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Hamid Kahram, Iran is among the top ten countries in terms of vaccine production.