Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank, in his speech at the “Turkey’s Diagnostic Power Virtual Conference” organized by the “COVID-19 Turkey Platform”, said that Turkey has a strong industrial infrastructure and an advanced R&D ecosystem.
Referring to the economic, social and psychological effects of the virus, Varank said, “The orders we know and are accustomed to have started to change us, too. In a troubled environment, we passed the test successfully as a country.” he said.
Varank stated that, as the ministry, they strive to develop national solutions in health technologies, chemistry, pharmaceuticals and medical devices with the vision of the National Technology Move.
Explaining that Turkey achieved what no one else could achieve during the epidemic period, Varank said:
“We are following a science and technology-based approach in the fight against Covid-19. TUBITAK and its institutes are working. We started our vaccine and drug development studies before the virus entered the borders of our country. 17 of our projects are continuing successfully. Among them, we have 8 vaccine projects, and at the end of the year, pre-clinical processes will be completed. “We expect it to be completed. We may also obtain earlier results in some vaccine projects. We are at the animal testing stage in one of the projects, and we will start these experiments in the other two projects soon.”
“The better you are at diagnosis, the more effective you will be in treatment.”
Varank stated that 9 different projects focusing on both chemicals and bio-technology are ongoing in the field of pharmaceuticals and said, “In June, we will have important good news in the field of synthesis drugs with domestic resources in one of these projects.” he said.
Explaining that they have transferred 2.3 billion liras of resources to approximately 3 thousand projects in the last 5 years for pre-clinical research, Minister Varank said, “Again, in the same period, we supported 516 projects worth 402 million liras in the field of medical devices, including diagnostic kits. We benefit from these capabilities in the fight against Covid-19 and “We can produce effective solutions specific to the needs of the epidemic environment.” said.
Varank noted that the flatter the disease curve, the greater the chance of scientific solutions coming into play, and said, “Medical diagnostic kits are one of the important technologies that contribute to this process. The better you are at diagnosis, the more effective you are in treatment.” he said.
Varank stated that in addition to TÜBİTAK’s existing support, they made a rapid call specifically for the Covid-19 epidemic and requested product-oriented projects from SMEs, and stated that they received 446 applications in 1 week in this context.
Varank also stated that after the evaluation process, they decided to support 35 projects in areas such as intensive care devices, diagnostic kits, advanced solutions for early diagnosis and follow-up stages and smart health, and said that they supported 10 projects within the scope of the said call in the field of diagnosis.
Minister Varank stated that with the presentations made within the scope of the program, people will get an idea about the kits that will be produced with sensitive and high-sensitivity innovative technology, portable laboratories, hybrid and thermal cameras, microfluidic chip method and artificial intelligence-based applications.
Dr. Stating that an innovative kit has been developed as an alternative to the PCR method for detecting Covid-19 at an early stage by Faculty Member Selim Hanay, Varank made the following evaluation:
“With this kit, it is aimed to get results in 30 minutes during the incubation period of Covid-19, before the symptoms of the disease appear. Its work involves a nanomechanical system based on weighing the weight of the virus, instead of biochemical reactions. Here, we will hear about this innovative approach, which is unique in the world, for the first time. “The prototype is planned to be completed in June. In this project, a kit that can be an example to the world is being developed. There are also companies we support in the field of diagnosis. We are strong in diagnosis, now is the time to be a pioneer.”
2 new support calls
Varank shared the information that they have made two new calls that are of great interest to companies and ecosystem stakeholders, and stated that the first of these is the ‘SME Support Call for Order-Based R&D Projects’.
Noting that they expect at least one supplier organization and one customer organization to make a joint application within the scope of this call, Varank said, “We have no subject and sector restrictions. While SMEs develop the product according to their R&D studies, the customer company supports the execution of the R&D project as targeted.” “Information will be shared, disseminated and quickly transformed into products. In projects focusing on R&D, the co-development mechanism will accelerate.” said.
Varank stated that the second call is aimed at ‘Supporting Patent-Based Technology Transfer’ and that the transfer of patented technologies to the industry is aimed with this call.
Stating that they will start receiving applications for both calls tomorrow, Varank said:
“The ‘Safe area option’ in the Hayat Eve Sığar Application developed by our Ministry of Health was created under the coordination of your Ministry. We cooperated with Singapore in this application field.
We did this. Our company pioneered a technopark with Informatics Valley. The application has been tested. We ensured the integration of the project with our Ministry of Health. You can create a secure area QR code in any area. Afterwards, you can print out the code and hang it at the entrance of that area. People scan the QR code when entering and exiting that area. Those who are in the same area at the same time are recorded on the servers. If a person tests positive for Covid-19, other people with a high probability of contact can be identified immediately thanks to the application archive. Thanks to the software, if there is a case anywhere you go, you are also included in the test tracking process. “The advantage of the application is that it increases confidence in the normalization process.”
Reminding that a cooperation protocol was signed between TÜBİTAK and the State Materials Office last year, Varank said that in this context, the products developed by benefiting from the R&D incentives of TÜBİTAK Technology and Innovation Support Programs Directorate (TEYDEB) will be directly included in DMO’s Techno Catalog Platform. He said the products could be sold to the public.
Varank stated that in this system, where orders up to 500 thousand liras can be received at a time, payments will be made within 10 days at the latest.
After the speech, the scientists made a presentation and answered Varank’s questions about the presentations.
Minister Varank stated that, in the meantime, projects with a high R&D rate related to diagnostic kits or drug and vaccine development have come from development agencies, and said, “We have prepared all of these projects. TÜBİTAK will evaluate them and develop a model to support them. We do not want to use the resources of development agencies for R&D-intensive works. “We will use development agency supports in projects that will minimize virus damage. We will evaluate other projects at TUBITAK.” he said.
