MNA � In a ceremony on Sunday and with participation of Head of Food and Drug Administration of Iran (IFIDA), first domestically produced pulmonary surfactant �Beraksurf� was unveiled.

�Production of this drug requires high technological knowledge and has cost $4.5 million to $5 million,� IFIDA Head Mohamamdreza Shanehsaz said.

Despite the challenges created by our country's enemies, Iranian experts have been successful in manufacturing vital drugs domestically, he added.

�Some 99 percent of domestic need for drugs is met in the country and we plan to expand exports of our products and seek to protect domestic knowledge-based companies,� the official said.

Beraksurf is a bovine pulmonary surfactant containing bovine lung extract which used for the treatment of Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) in premature infants. Beractant contains a mixture of phospholipids, neutral lipids, fatty acids, and surfactant-associated proteins such as SP-B and SP-C.

Based on the recent report of the Global Innovation Index (GII) in 2019, major portion of requirements of Iran�s pharmaceutical market are provided by the domestic companies.

Domestic companies hold about 70 percent of $4.5 billion pharmaceutical market of the country.

GII in a report published in 2019 concentrated on studying and analyzing situation of innovation and capability of Iran in the pharmaceutical field with a focus on the biomedicines.

GII put the market value medical equipment in Iran at $2.5 billion, 30 percent of which is owned by more than 100 domestic producers.