nahaleh naraqi interview

Interview with Ms. Nahaleh Naraghi

According to the public relations of Actover Group, Nahaleh Naraghi is the CEO of Actoverco. Actoverco is a leading company in the field of producing high quality drugs in accordance with the latest international standards. This company with a history of more than 40 years of activity in the field of pharmaceuticals entered the field of drug production since 2011 and in a short time succeeded in producing over than 100 types of drugs in pharmaceutical forms of tablets, capsules, prefilled syringes, sterile lyophilized powders, Injectable ampoules. The company’s drugs are divided into two main categories of chemical and biological drugs that are used in the treatment of diseases of cardiovascular, neurology, gastrointestinal, diabetes, asthma, allergies, etc., as well as certain diseases such as MS and various types of cancer. At present, there are more than 2500 staff members in the Actover (pharmaceutical-food) group.

The following is an interview with Nahale Naraqi

Tell us about yourself and the activities of Actoverco.

I am Nahaleh Naraghi; I was born in 1960 in Tehran. I have a bachelor’s degree in sociology (undergraduate) from the University of Vienna, Austria, and I am fluent in three languages: English, Spanish and German. Even now, after all these years, I still have more than 14 hours of daily work, activity and extensive study in the field of pharmaceuticals. If I want to talk about my leisure time, I must say that in addition to work, spending time with family and children comprises the great part; we also have 6 grandchildren in different ages, which is one of my most important works of my leisure time plans.

My outstanding job skills are mastery of organization and teamwork. Sustainable development, healthy private sector activity, commitment to social responsibility and active participation in charity are some of my heartfelt beliefs. Meeting the country’s pharmaceutical needs, active presence in global markets, moving with the latest technology in the world and exporting drugs to countries of the region, are the goals that we pursue in Actoverco Company.

What are the success factors of Actoverco?

Paying special attention to quality and considering the demands of physicians and patients, to produce drugs with standard and quality accordant to leading companies at the international level and trying to comply with the latest standards in the field of drug production with the correct choice of products according to possible developments of community health in the upcoming years have been the key to the company’s success in the pharmaceutical market.

What is the vision of Actoverco in the post-BARJAM period? In the field of world trade, what actions has this company taken?

Actoverco Company has been a leader in attracting technical knowledge and foreign assets in the field of drug production and is also one of the leading companies in the production of special drugs. In this regard, we can mention the joint investment of this company with prominent international companies in the field of hormonal and anti-cancer drugs.

How much of Actoverco’s costs are spent on research and development?

In recent years, Actoverco has invested heavily in the research, development and production of specific drugs, including the production of raw materials and biotechnology drugs to treat certain diseases such as cancer, as well as chemotherapy drugs. These include the German MERCK factories and the Spanish CHEMO factories.

In your opinion, despite the fact that the Iranian pharmaceutical industry has been able to meet 97% of domestic demand, why it has still not been able to take significant action in conquering regional and global markets? How relevant is this to management issues?

Insufficient attention to improvement of the drug production and testing quality standards, lack of attention to the requirements for documentation of productive and qualitative activities, insufficient familiarity with the drug registration process in other companies and lack of international GMP certification of most domestic manufacturers, are the main reasons for slow drug export growth to regional and global markets. Management stability and correct understanding of management of a complex with abovementioned requirements guarantee success in expanding exports and conquering regional and global markets. Somehow, we can say that paying attention to quality is paying attention to exports.

What is the biggest challenge of your activities?

Lack of equal opportunities due to biased support for certain companies by drug regulators, high cost of obtaining credit from banks and institutions, long working capital return of drug sales and cumbersome import regulations of the raw materials and excipients needed to produce medicine are the main challenges of our activities.

Tell us about your cultural activities in order to promote community health indicators? In your opinion, to what extent is culture-building necessary for a healthy society?

The publication of “Salam Salamat” magazine since 2015 has been one of the important steps towards active participation in promoting the culture of community health. This monthly magazine is distributed free of charge in a wide range of hospitals, offices and pharmacies in Tehran and some other cities and is made available to the public. On the other hand, changing the lifestyle to urbanization, sedentary lifestyle, alternation in the age pyramid and increasing life span and consequently increasing the number of elderly, has doubled the need for culture-building to confrontation the challenges facing society.

What is your assessment of activities such as the specialized book fair that is held simultaneously with Iran Pharma?

Holding specialized book fairs can play an important role in attracting more researchers and interested audiences and provide easier access to the required books and specialized resources for pharmaceutical companies.

 Reference: Iran Pharma