Iranian Flu Vaccine Paper Retracted: Is Politics Behind It?

The retraction of a scientific paper on an Iranian influenza vaccine by a reputable international journal has raised questions about the quality of the product. However, an official in the biotechnology sector believes the matter goes beyond a scientific dispute and should be examined within the framework of global competition and pressure on Iran's biotechnology industry.

In a conversation with the secretary of the headquarters of the development of sciences and technologies of life and stem cells, it was examined:

The discrediting of the Iranian influenza vaccine scientific article in a prestigious international publication has raised questions about the quality of this product. But an official in the field of biotechnology believes that the matter is beyond a scientific dispute and it should be investigated in the context of global competition and pressure on Iran's biotechnology industry.

Ambassador Arjan-Maryam Sarkhosh: The publication of the news of retraction or "retraction" of the Iranian influenza vaccine scientific article in a reputable foreign publication has raised concerns about the quality and effectiveness of this product.

An incident that at first glance can question the scientific validity of a domestic achievement, but the country's biotechnology officials believe that the story has other dimensions; From the heavy competition in the global market of biotechnology products to the restrictions that, according to them, are no longer limited to economic exchanges and have also reached the field of science and research.

Of course, discrediting a scientific article does not necessarily mean that the studied product is of poor quality, and to judge the reasons for this, one should refer to the official explanations of the publishing publication and its scientific documentation.

Mostafa Qanei, Secretary of the Development Staff of Sciences and Biotechnologies and Stem Cells of the Scientific Vice-Chancellor, referring to the discrediting of the Iranian influenza vaccine article, evaluates this incident in the context of broader pressures on the country's biotechnology industry and tells Ambassador Arjan: The issue is not limited to one article. The retraction of this article happened in a situation where all biotechnological products of Iran have faced a similar situation. Iran is one of the leading countries in the production of biotechnology products, and it is in a difficult situation to compete with the big global producers who benefit the most from this market.

Referring to the development of the market of Iranian products abroad, he continues: Iran's position in this field is improving. For example, an Iranian product has replaced an American product in the Russian market. In such a situation, it seems that the competition has been extended to the field of science and now it is followed by rejecting scientific articles.

According to Qanei, the Iranian vaccine article had gone through various stages of scientific review before publication. By the time it was confirmed, the international judges had done all the checks. The required data was received and the article was published after several stages of correction.

He believes that the discrediting of Iranian scientific articles is currently influenced by political considerations and further explains: it seems that the discrediting of Iranian articles has become a political issue, not just a scientific issue. This situation is not limited to the field of biotechnology, and efforts are being made to distort Iran's scientific face in various fields.

Why did the Iranian vaccine not reach the market this year?

Another issue that was raised at the same time as the news of discrediting the article is the lack of Iranian influenza vaccine in the market this year. An issue that may give the impression that the production stop is related to the subject of the article. But Qanei states that the main reason is the economic problems of production and the lack of guarantee for the purchase of products.

He explains: Influenza vaccine is a seasonal product and the vaccine produced this year does not have the expected effectiveness for next year. For this reason, manufacturers have to invest every year to produce a new product, while they do not know how much of the vaccine they produce will be welcomed by the public.

According to him, this uncertainty about the amount of demand has reduced the motivation of annual production.

Destruction of 800,000 Iranian vaccines

In describing the problems of domestic producers, Qanei points to an incident last year that, according to him, caused significant damage to one of the vaccine companies: last year, the Iranian producer destroyed about 700-800 thousand doses of influenza vaccine. It is natural that when such a volume of the product is not sold and is lost, the producer does not want to invest and produce again in the following years.

According to this official, the continuation of such conditions can cause domestic vaccine production to face serious problems; even if the technology to produce it exists in the country.

The secretary of the headquarters of the development of biological sciences and technologies and stem cells considers the government's entry into the cycle of vaccine purchase as the main solution and emphasizes: the only solution is for the government to guarantee the purchase of the vaccine. The producer must be sure that all his product will be bought and no longer have to worry about whether people will inject the vaccine or not.

Referring to Iran's influenza vaccine production technology, Qanei says: "In Iran, we have produced a recombinant influenza vaccine with advanced technology, which is similar to the one produced in America, and Iran is the second country producing this product. But despite the achievement of this technology, economic problems and the lack of a guaranteed market have made manufacturers reluctant to produce and supply vaccines.

According to this official, by accepting part of the economic risk of production, the government should provide conditions for domestic vaccines to have the possibility of continuous presence in the market.

According to Ambassador Arjan's report, among the debates about discrediting the Iranian vaccine article, one point is particularly important; The scientific validity of an article and the license to produce and consume a medicinal product are two different issues. Scientific articles may be discredited for various reasons, including flaws in data, research methodology, reporting of results, or issues related to the publication process. On the other hand, the evaluation of the quality, safety and effectiveness of the vaccine is based on a set of scientific documents, clinical studies and inspections by regulatory bodies. Therefore, the mere publication of the news of discrediting an article cannot alone indicate the poor quality of the vaccine; Just as the publication of an article in a reputable publication alone does not guarantee the quality of a product.

For this reason, in addition to the necessity of clarifying the scientific reasons for discrediting the article, another issue is also raised; The future of Iranian influenza vaccine production and maintaining the production capacity and technology of this product, which can give people more and better access to health-oriented products in the face of problems.