The new product, dubbed Spartina, was put on display during a ceremony held at the Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex in Tehran on Monday.

The drug reportedly contains the active ingredient tirzepatide, which is produced by a domestic knowledge-based firm.

Tirzepatide is said to be the first and only drug with a dual mechanism that acts simultaneously on the receptors of the gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) to significantly reduce weight, and effectively control blood sugar.

“Obesity as a health problem is widely recognized as a chronic disease, and requires long-term treatment. Just like diabetes and high blood pressure which are chronic diseases and necessitate lifelong treatment, the treatment period for obesity takes a great deal of time,” Alireza Esteghamati, head of the endocrinology department at the Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex and a professor at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, said at the unveiling ceremony.

He pointed to the methods of treating obesity, stating that medications to treat obesity were less than 10% effective in the past, and bariatric surgery, also known as weight loss surgery, was helpful by up to 35%.

“With the introduction of new drugs, the effectiveness rate of weight-loss medications raised to between 25 and 30 percent,” Esteghamati said.

He stated that one of the common concerns regarding anti-obesity medications is whether they can cause cancer or not.

“This drug has no prescription restrictions other than two cases, including a rare thyroid tumor (medullary tumor) and a rare hereditary disease (multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2 – MEN2),” Esteghamati pointed out.

He stressed that Spartina can reduce weight, controls diabetes, and reduces the three-month average blood sugar by 2.5 percent.

 “It has also received approval and treatment authorization for the treatment of obesity and sleep apnea in obese people,” Esteghamati said.

Following the Islamic Revolution, Iran placed significant emphasis on the production of various medicines, including life-saving drugs. This strategic focus transformed Iran from being reliant on drug imports to becoming an exporter, currently fulfilling approximately 97 percent of its pharmaceutical needs through domestic capabilities.