The standard of Iran's biomedical R&D sector is fairly good for the Middle East, but far below that seen in developed countries. In November 2009, the Health Ministry ordered 2mn doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine from undisclosed Chinese and European countries. Delivery was expected in February or March 2010. The government had set aside US$20mn for the purchase, but was willing to contribute another US$10mn if necessary. Because there were three Iranian biomedical institutions were already researching an indigenous swine flu vaccine, self sufficiency was expected in May 2010.

Because Iran's economy is dominated by oil, government spending fluctuates according to the price of a barrel of crude oil. The 2008 price spike meant that the state over-spent on certain services and this has resulted in debts during 2009. A senior government official revealed in October 2009 that state-run hospitals and clinics had accrued debts totalling IRR3,322bn (US$335mn) to local pharmaceutical companies, thereby threatening their commercial viability due to a lack of liquidity.

researchandmarkets/research/efc6c4/iran_pharmaceutica