Turkey to progress on vaccine development

ANKARA- Anadolu Agency

Turkey has had remarkable progress in vaccine development projects to fight the coronavirus outbreak, determining innovative approaches to get fast results, the country's industry and technology minister said on April 2. 

Mustafa Varank said under COVID-19 Platform, seven vaccine projects, and seven drug development projects using chemical and biotechnological methods are currently being conducted.

"The Industry and Technology Ministry started its work before the epidemic reached global dimensions," he said, adding that Turkey has been closely following the pandemic’s worldwide impact.

Amid official efforts to stem the virus’ spread, the Turkish government is providing support to institutes and researchers in the country working to find vaccines.

Under the leadership of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), vaccine and drug development projects are being carried out.

'Flatten the curve’

"We held our first coronavirus-related meeting in this area while the virus was still within China, exactly two months ago," said Varank, adding that they went on to use a result-oriented approach.

In order to make the process as fast and efficient as possible, a COVID-19 sub-platform was established under the coordination of TUBITAK's Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute.

For this lofty goal, hundreds of researchers from 24 universities, eight public R&D units, and eight private sector organizations have been working diligently.

"The more we can flatten the disease curve, the greater the chances of scientific solutions coming into play," said Varank.