In an interview with ÜLKE TV, Prof. Dr. Şaban Tekin, Director of TUBITAK Marmara Research Center (MAM) Institute of Gene Engineering and Biotechnology (GMBE) and COVID-19 Turkey Platform Coordinator, made important statements about the vaccine and drug studies carried out by the "COVID-19 Turkey Platform" under the coordination of TÜBİTAK MAM GMBE.

Prof. Dr. Şaban Tekin, who gave information about the latest point reached in vaccine and drug studies, said: "Within the scope of COVID-19 Turkey platform vaccine and drug projects, we are working on the development of 10 drugs and 7 vaccines. 3 of these are vaccines that have progressed to the phase stage. VLP-2 vaccine is our vaccine that started the first phase study. Phase-I has been completed. As of this week, Phase-II studies have started. Currently, phased vaccinations are continuing. In other words, we have finished the safety study; we are currently working on the efficacy study. Hopefully, if we finish this by the end of this week, situation analyzes will be made and then we will try to start Phase-III studies as soon as possible."

"Our vaccine is a reliable and high-tech vaccine"

Stating that the vaccines developed are safe and have no side effects, Prof. Dr. Şaban Tekin said, "So far the results are very good, we know that it is a safe vaccine. Otherwise, it would not have entered the second phase. In other words, it is impossible to go from Phase-I to Phase-II without being safe. Therefore, our vaccine is a very good and technological vaccine. It is one of the rare vaccine projects in the world and the only one in Turkey. We have a serious effort. I hope it will be an effective vaccine. If we are fortunate, we expect this study to start the Phase-III study around August-September. Maybe early approval for use can be obtained around November or December. There is such a possibility. We have great expectations and we will be able to use our own vaccines before the new year starts. Of course, this may change depending on the decision of the Ministry of Health and the speed of the studies, but our goal is to get approval in November and make it available to our country. Phase-I studies of our other vaccine, the Inactivated Vaccine, are nearing completion. We will apply for a Phase-II study at the end of July. " he said.

"Volunteer Support for Domestic Vaccines"

COVID-19 Turkey Platform Coordinator Prof. Dr. Şaban Tekin said, "We need the support of our people in order for the Domestic and National Vaccines we have developed to come to life. We expect our people to voluntarily support the Phase studies for our VLP and other vaccines."

"Clinical trials are ongoing for Ribavirin and Montelukast"

Giving information about drug studies, Prof. Dr. Şaban Tekin said, "There are currently two drugs; one of them is Ribavirin and studies are being conducted on it. The other is a drug called Montelukast, and our Phase-II clinical studies on it are ongoing. Once these are completed, they will be used for COVID-19. The necessary permits will be applied for. As the number of patients decreases, it inevitably slows down our clinical trials. On the one hand, we are actually happy, the decrease in the number of patients is very good for our country. As patients are found, this will be completed in a very short time. However, it is not right to give an exact time. If the results are good, if they are allowed to be used, they can be put into the service of our people."

"We are developing Neutralizing Antibody"

Speaking about the work of TÜBİTAK MAM, Prof. Dr. Şaban Tekin said, "We have a drug study from scratch. We are trying to develop Neutralizing Antibody here. We are trying to develop drug candidates for use in the treatment of COVID-19. In this context, we have made a certain progress in our studies and we have started to get good results. In a short time, we will make our final trials and make our decision. We got good results. So, we have come to a certain point for a domestic drug to come out. Our preliminary trials have been completed." He used his expressions.