Turkey is ranking third in the world behind the US and China to develop locally vaccines and drugs against covid-19, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
Erdogan was speaking at the opening of TUBITAK (Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council) Excellence Centers in the Gebze district of the northwestern Kocaeli province.
Turkey has made great progress in developing vaccines and drugs against COVID-19 in collaboration with state, private sectors and universities, state-run news agency Anadolu quoted him as saying.
“COVID-19 Turkey Platform, founded by TUBITAK, is currently working on eight different vaccines and 10 different medicine projects [for COVID-19],” he added.
Turkish researchers have already conducted trials on animals for two candidate vaccines. One of the vaccines received ethical clearance and the clinical phase on humans started, Erdogan indicated.
Ankara has reported 239,622 cases of the respiratory disease and 222,656 recoveries and put deaths at 5,829.
