NPD process in active pharmaceutical ingredients industry: a case study in Iran

Due to recent sanctions against Iran, the Iranian active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) industry has become increasingly scrutinised. However, innovation and new product development (NPD) are challenges for Iranian APIs; especially as in the domestic market they face substantial competition from Asian and American competitors. This paper investigates the existing NPD situation in the APIs industry in Iran. To do so, the researchers have explored the extent to which the APIs industry follows an innovation strategy or imitation strategy by discovering factories influencing the NPD process. This paper also includes a case-study on the APIs industry in Taamin Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Company (TAPIC) holding. A wide variety of data collection methods were used, ranging from semi-structured questionnaire and interviews, literature reviews, archival record analysis and participant observation. The findings show that possessing skilled and professional teams is the most important activity for designing a successful NPD process in APIs. In contrast, high cost of importing new technologies tends to be the main restriction that endangers a successful NPD process in APIs in Iran.