Seeds of cooperation, fruits of innovation: Understanding the Iranian vaccine industry in the COVID-19 pandemic-era through the lens of the innovation ecosystem

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the complexities of vaccine industry innovation. This study aims to understand how Iran’s vaccine industry rapidly responded to the COVID-19 pandemic under severe sanctions by applying an innovation ecosystem-as-structure framework. It addresses two research objectives: identifying key actors, activities, and interdependencies that defined the ecosystem’s structure; and assessing how collaborative dynamics enabled value co-creation for public access. A qualitative, interpretive case study approach was employed, using data from 20 expert interviews, policy documents, national/international reports, and author observations. Thematic analysis revealed that coopetition, regulatory flexibility, and diversified funding INIF were critical in accelerating vaccine development and distribution. The findings highlight that while structural positioning of actors is foundational, dynamic coordination mechanisms are essential for crisis response. A major policy implication is the need to institutionalize ad hoc innovations into permanent STI frameworks, such as innovation vouchers and open science platforms. The study contributes original insights by integrating institutional theory and complexity perspectives to explain resilience in sanctioned contexts, offering a refined model for analyzing vaccine innovation ecosystems in crisis environments.