Iran Starts Mass Producing PCR, Serologic COVID-19 Diagnostic Kits

The production lines were inaugurated on Saturday by Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari in a ceremony held at Pishtaz Teb Company in Tehran.

Sattari noted the production of diagnostic kits in Iran is considered to be a major step in the fight against the coronavirus, stressing that six knowledge-based companies in this field have received permits to produce different types of such kits.

Pointing out that Pishtaz Teb Company is one of the largest knowledge-based companies active in this field, the Vice President added there are two types of diagnostic kits made by this company.

“The first type are the kits based on PCR analysis and we can produce 100,000 of them per week. The second type are serologic kits that can detect the coronavirus and we produce 2 million ones a week.”

With the expansion of the production capacity of other companies, these figures will definitely increase, and we can become one of the main exporters of the diagnostic kits, maintained the Iranian Vice President.

Sattari said some companies are also working on extraction kits, and these three types of kits have been mass-produced in the country. He stated that these products can be exported to other countries while meeting domestic needs.

“We have witnessed good things since the outbreak of the virus in the country, and today we are at a point where we can say all products are made domestically using the capabilities of the Iranian workforce,” Sattari said.

These companies can produce medical equipment needed to fight COVID-19, such as surgery room equipment, ICU room stuff, as well as equipment needed to prevent and control the disease, such as masks, medications, etc. Fortunately, all this equipment is manufactured domestically by knowledge-based companies, he went on to say.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he highlighted that 40 mask production lines will be launched in the country within the next 15 to 20 days.

“We are in very good conditions regarding the production of disinfections and medical equipment. Iran has made significant progress in the field of biotech products and currently produces 23 bio-drugs domestically.”

Moreover, Sattari stated the knowledge-based companies are active in the country to recognise the time of a crisis, and they design and construct the necessary equipment. This is the approach that all industries must adopt.