The intravenous chemotherapy drug Pemetrexed is now produced locally by the knowledge-based NanoAlvand Pharmaceutical Company, said Ali Shahriari, the oncology ward chief at Tehran’s Rasoul Akram Hospital. “The drug, produced under the name Alvopem, is on par with its foreign equivalents in terms of quality,” he told IRNA. Pemetrexed is a chemotherapy drug used to treat non-small cell lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma (a cancer which affects the covering layer of the lungs). The brand form of this drug is imported from the US, and the generic forms from the Czech Republic. The local product would be priced cheaper than its American equivalent (Alimta) which costs $515 and $2,145 per 100mg and 500mg vial. “The Health Ministry has agreed to cover 70% of the drug cost,” Shahriari said.
