A domestic knowledge-based company has developed a specialized software used by pharmaceutical companies for medicinal production.
The patent of SSDD software for designing mimetic drugs with bio-pharmaceutical properties has been developed and is held exclusively by Avin Zist Kimia Dadeh Company, according to the CEO of the knowledge-based company.
“In this knowledge-based company, we’ve established a capable research and development unit by using the elite youth to work on medicines that cannot be produced domestically, or their import faces challenges,” Soroush Sardari was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology.
The software helps produce new placebo compounds against mycobacterium species and HIV virus in silico (conducted or produced by means of computer modeling or simulation) with the desired therapeutic or biological capabilities, in addition to optimizing standard pharmaceutical compounds.
The company is exploring the prospects of exporting this exclusive pharmaceutical software.
The company is active in the fields of medicinal design and analysis, process optimization, production of biological products, synthesis and manufacture of drug-like molecules and natural medicinal raw materials, as well as training, consultation and implementation of optimal principles of production in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
The knowledge-based company has also conducted detailed research in the field of cancer.
AVIOVEN, produced by this company, is one of the special anti-cancer drugs produced by reverse engineering, which is anti-metastatic.
In metastasis, cancer cells break away from the original or primary tumor, travel through the blood or lymph system, and form a new tumor in other organs or tissues of the body.
The medicine has been priced at 12 million rials ($36) while its foreign counterpart costs about 60 million rials ($180).
Iran Joins Exclusive Group of Surgical Blade Manufacturers
An Iranian knowledge-based company has produced surgical blades that only a few companies are selling worldwide because of its specialized technology.
“The production of surgical blades, despite their simple appearance, requires a complex technological process. For the production of these surgical blades, four processes are required, one of which is the steel heating process,” Shahriar Homayoun Farmanesh, the CEO of Mathlab Electronic Paydar Company, was quoted as saying by the news portal of Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology.
“Usually, the highest accuracy that Computer Numerical Control machines have is one-hundredth of a millimeter, while the tip of surgical blades is 60 nanometers, for the measuring of which an electronic microscope must be used.”
According to the company, only six firms in the world are producing surgical blades and Iran is the newest member to join these producers.
Another product of this company is a blood transfusion pump (also known as infusion pump).
The CEO of this knowledge-based company noted that since red blood cells contain hemoglobin molecules that may split while administering a normal injection and make it difficult to inject blood via traditional methods.
In such cases, doctors and medical staff will use a blood transfusion pump.
“In some emergency cases, the patient urgently needs a large volume of blood and a drop-by-drop injection is not effective, therefore, a blood transfusion pump is used,” he added.
The device produced by this domestic knowledge-based company is sold at half the price of its Australian and American counterparts while having the same quality. And unlike imported models, this device offers after-sales services and a warranty.
According to Farmanesh, the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology has formed the ecosystem of medical equipment, which includes hundreds of knowledge-based companies.
“We tried to focus on the production of equipment and devices that were either not produced domestically, or its foreign counterpart is expensive and difficult to import due to international sanctions,” he said.
Simple, Smart and Efficient DNA Extraction Kit Developed
A domestic company has developed a simple and smart DNA extraction kit using saliva with high efficiency, which is a suitable alternative to the DNA extraction method using blood.
Considering the many applications of DNA extraction and its genetic analysis in several fields, including research, medicine and forensic science, using a reliable method is of high importance.
In cases where it is necessary to conduct genetic tests in people with special conditions, like old people, children under three years and people with special diseases, blood sampling becomes problematic and, at times, impossible.
Saliva sampling is an easy and reliable method employed by the DNA extraction kit produced by Zista Gene Afarin Company, which is based on sedimentation and column methods, and uses silica.
The saliva sample contains buccal cells and white blood cells, in addition to bacteria. Therefore, stabilizing and inhibiting the growth of natural bacteria in the saliva are important to increase the share of human DNA compared to bacterial DNA.
To solve this problem, the company has designed a saliva retention buffer that helps stabilize the sample at ambient temperature for at least six months and at -20 degrees Celsius or -80 degrees Celsius for more than a year. This part is not included in the kit and can be bought separately.
The domestic kit allows the extraction of genomic DNA from at least one milliliter of a saliva sample.
In general, this method extracts DNA of high molecular weight and higher purity, which can be used in many downstream molecular reactions and analyses, including polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing and genotyping.
