TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MAM) Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute (GMBE) Director and Turkish COVID-19 Platform Coordinator Prof. Şaban TEKİN gave an interview to ÜLKE TV and made important explanations about the vaccine and drug development studies conducted by the “COVID-19 Platform” under the coordination of TÜBİTAK MAM GMBE.
Unfolding the current status of vaccine and drug studies, Prof. Şaban TEKİN said “Under the umbrella of Turkish COVID-19 Platform, we conduct studies to develop 10 drugs and 7 vaccines. 3 of the vaccines are on the way to phase studies. The VLP-2 vaccine is our first vaccine to go through the phase studies. It has completed the Phase-I. This week, the Phase-II studies have started. Now, vaccination continues with stages. That is, we have finished safety studies and now we are working on efficacy. Hopefully we will finish this stage this week, and we will make situtation analyses to start the Phase-III studies in the soonest time possible”.
“Our vaccine is a reliable and high-tech product.”
Stating that the vaccines developed are safe and have no side effects, Prof. Şaban TEKİN said, “So far, the results are quite good, and we know that is a safe vaccine. Otherwise, it would not be possible to proceed to the second phase. In other words, without being safe, it is not possible to switch from Phase-I to Phase-II studies. Therefore, our vaccine is quite good and technological. It is one of the rare vaccine projects in the world and the only one in Turkey. We spend a great deal of effort. Hopefully, it will be an effective vaccine. We expect this vaccine to proceed to Phase-III studies in August or September. It may be possible to get emergency use approval around November or December. We have great expectations and we will be able to use our own vaccines before the new year comes. Of course, it depends on the decision of the Ministry of Health and the speed of the studies; however, our goal is to get the approval in November and make the vaccine available to our country. Our another study, which is an inactivated vaccine, is about to complete the Phase-I studies. We will apply for the Phase-II studies at the end of July.”
“Support by Volunteers in National Vaccines”
Turkish COVID-19 Platform Coordinator Prof. Şaban TEKİN said “In order to realize our National Vaccines, we need the support of our people. We expect to get the support of our people by volunteering in the Phase studies of our VLP and other vaccines.”
“Clinical studies continue on Ribavirin and Montelukast drugs”
Sharing information on drug studies, Prof. Şaban TEKİN said, “Currently, we have two drugs, one of them is Ribavirin and we keep working on it. The other one is Montelukast, and we conduct clinical studies on it at Phase-II level. After the completion of these studies, they will be used for COVID-19. We will apply for the necessary permits. The decreasing number of patients slows down our clinical studies necessarily. On the other hand, we are happy for the decreasing number of patients in our country. These studies will be completed when we have patients available. However, we cannot specify a certain time period. If the results turn out to be favorable, and if these drugs get approval, they could be put into the use of our people.”
“We are developing Neutralizing Antibodies”
Talking about the studies of TÜBİTAK MAM, Prof. Şaban TEKİN said, “We have drug studies from scratch. We are trying to develop Neutralizing Antibodies. We develop drug candidates for use in COVID-19 treatment. We have made a certain progress in our studies and started to get favorable results. We will conduct our final experiments in a short period and make a decision. The results are favorable. That is, we have made a certain progress in the development of a national drug. The preliminary experiments are completed.”