French drugmaker Sanofi has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Iran Food and Drug Administration, an affiliate of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, to explore how it could enter local manufacturing collaborations and work on programs to fight chronic and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, multiple sclerosis and rare diseases.

Sanofi said it also wants to study ways to transfer its expertise in industrial quality standards to its existing partnerships with Iranian manufacturers. The Memorandum also addresses the topic of evaluating possible collaborations to improve the availability of accurate, reliable, and meaningful epidemiological studies and registries to create and shape “effective and socially impactful policies in the health sector.”

The company said it will explore the possibilities and feasibility of engaging the Iranian scientific society to work in these areas, and obtain and make its extensive knowledge in epidemiological studies and registries available to the Ministry of Health. It said “all evaluations will be done in accordance with applicable laws, including trade restriction rules.”

“Sanofi has built a long term presence in Iran and, as the number one multinational healthcare company in this country, it is committed to delivering both innovative and well established healthcare solutions to citizens of Iran,” said Serge Weinberg, chairman of the board of directors.

With this cooperation, the French pharmaceutical group said, “We will consider the possibility to increase our footprint in Iran, where we have been operating for more than 10 years, and reinforce our ongoing industrial collaborations.”

Sanofi established a legal presence in the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2006 through a representative office. It also has manufacturing collaborations with key local Iranian partners in the country for some of its core pharmaceutical products. Some 55 % of the company’s sales in Iran are with locally manufactured products.