Joining just two other vaccines in the world, vaccines developed in Turkey are now set to enter the clinical study phase, said the nation's president on Thursday.
"Three innovative [Turkish-made] vaccine candidates are on the verge of starting phase studies. Work by our professors has the potential to become the third vaccine candidate in the clinical stage in its category in the world," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told an award ceremony for the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA) in the capital Ankara.
According to the World Health Organization, Turkey has the third-largest number of COVID-19 vaccine projects in the world, behind only the US and China, Erdogan said.
"We have launched a science campaign with the TUBITAK COVID-19 Turkey Platform. In this platform, 436 researchers are carrying out 17 projects on vaccine and drug development," he added.
Noting that Turkey's investments in the field are not limited to the pandemic era, Erdoğan said Turkey is looking to become a key player in the international arena by developing and producing its own vaccines.
Vaccine development studies are conducted in four stages, from the pre-clinical stage to Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3.
In pre-clinical studies, candidate jabs are tested on animals to determine their reliability and effectiveness.
During this phase, candidates are tested for side effects and whether they produce sufficient antibodies.
The vaccine is then tested on humans in Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3.
