Background: One of the most important factors in developing competition ability in Iranian pharmaceutical companies is principled and systematic planning in the marketing area. Investigating all marketing variables is outside the scope of this article. Thus, the main purpose of this research was to extent the pharmaceutical companies’ applicable knowledge about promotion strategies; which is one of the most attractive subjects of marketing science.Methods: To achieve deepen extensive and comprehensive understanding of the dimensions and components of the pharmaceutical companies’ promotion strategy, a general framework was first developed by the literature review. Then, the required data was collected by conducting qualitative field research as well as through interviewing with the sales and marketing managers of pharmaceutical companies. The acquired data were analyzed using content analysis method. This process continued until the theoretical saturation was achieved.Results: The data analysis results suggested that the promotion strategy of Iranian pharmaceutical companies has 6 main components, including advertising, sales promotion, public relations and publicity, personal sales, events and experiences, and Word of Mouth Marketing (WOM). Moreover, the methods and tools of these components have different attributes that distinguish the promotion strategies of pharmaceuticals firms from other industries.Conclusion: Examining the promotion strategies of pharmaceutical companies from a close and operational perspective suggested that innovative practices and creative ways for market penetration and forerun. Some of the promotion strategies, including direct and interactive marketing were not common among Iranian pharmaceutical companies; however, many of the others were prevalent in different and innovative ways.

Background: The socioeconomic and political situation of Iraq has provided a wide and open market. Because of the weak pharmaceutical industry and war, Iraq has a huge demand for pharmaceutical and medical services; this country is a reliable market in the pharmaceuticals trade. Iran has a long border and good political relationship with Iraq, besides a great pharmaceutical industry. However, because of wrong policies and the lack of competition power, Iran failed to significantly impact Iraq’s pharmaceutical market. We aimed to analyze Iraq’s pharmaceutical trade market, address the factors affecting pharmaceuticals trade between Iran and Iraq, and provide suggestions to promote Iran in Iraq’s pharmaceutical market.Methods: Two questionnaires were designed based on the information obtained from articles related to the pharmaceutical industry. Questionnaires were completed by 10 Iraqi pharmaceutical experts. Then, we analyzed the obtained results by Simple Additive Weight (SAW) method. Based on the results of the analysis, we attempted to find the most important factors affecting Iran’s role in Iraq pharmaceutical market and clarify its situation.Results: The achieved results revealed 10 factors out of the 45 factors were more important and the majority of them were related to quality and marketing strategy.Conclusion: The study has suggested that quality and marketing power are the most important factors that affect the Iran-Iraq pharmaceutical business.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the usage patterns of some parenteral cephalosporins in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. The study design consisted of one year before and one year after the implementation of Health Reform Plan (HRP) in Iran.Methods: The data were collected from 6 university hospitals, including Taleghani, Mofid, Akhtar, Loghman Hakim, Shohadaye Tajrish, and Mahdieh hospitals from 2014 to 2015. The obtained data were analyzed using the GraphPad Prism software. The total consumption of parenteral cephalosporins in the 6 hospitals was expressed in Defined Daily Dose (DDD) per 100 Bed Days (BD).Results: DDD/100 BD increased from 149.132 to 149.454 DDD/100 one year following the implementation of HRP. This data indicates that the consumption of cefazolin, cefotaxime, ceftizoxime, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, and cefepime were not significantly changed. Although lower doses (g/d) of ceftizoxime and cefotaxime were used, compared to the standard doses in hospitals, the consumed dose of ceftriaxone (g/d) was significantly higher than the standard DDD.Conclusion: The obtained results suggest that the HRP was probably not effective in improving irrational antibiotic consumption in Iran. Thus, it is necessary to employ stewardship programs to control such irrational usage. This program should be conducted under the supervision of clinical pharmacists and infectious disease specialists.

Background: Dietary Supplement (DS) is a manufactured preparation intended to supplement the diet; unlike medications, they are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure disease. Iran’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been collecting sales data from distribution companies. This datasheet is a remarkable source for the market analysis of medicines and dietary supplements. No study exists on the state of the market for dietary supplements in Iran. Our study attempted to address this issue and the related challenges in this area.Methods: The data of this study was derived from the official statistical sales data of dietary supplements compiled by the FDA in 2015, as well as a statistical dataset of dietary supplements managed by Iranian dietary supplementary manufactures syndicate in 20112015.Results: Dietary supplements market in 2015 included over 1380 products. Nutritional baby formula has assigned the largest share by value, followed by general tonics and dietary supplements for anemia. Adults and children are the greatest consumer groups. The 4-year period analysis suggested growth in the different sections of the market.Conclusion: DS market in Iran is experiencing significant growth, both by value and volume. The per capita expenditure of DSs in Iran is lower than the global average. This could be due to the lower price of the locally produced supplements, in comparison with the imported branded ones, as well as the lack of awareness of the general population about the specialized products. The economic sanctions of Iran and unsustainable policies of the Iranian FDA regarding the licensing and importation of the dietary supplements, also the allocation of subsidized foreign exchange for the production of those are the challenges of this market.

Background: There are several types of radiotherapy devices available for the treatment of cancer tumors. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of selected radiosurgery devices on the treatment of cancer tumors and Arteriovenous Malformations (AVM).Methods: The evaluation was performed in two steps; First, evaluating the effectiveness of CyberKnife, Gamma knife and Linear Accelerator (Linac) on various biological systems. Then, we compered the effectiveness of devices with each other. A systematic review was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CRD, NHSEED and Cochrane library databases. The search strategy was limited to clinical trials with less than 5 treatment sessions. All searches were conducted on December 21, 2014.Results: In total, 81 studies have been included to the review. Based on the obtained results of comparison between the reported percentages of local control rate, the safety and accuracy of CyberKnife and linac are higher than Gamma Knife.Conclusion: Our findings suggested that CyberKnife is not only more effective to cover various types of tumors in the whole body, but also is safer and easier to use for various tumors, as well as AVM treatment.