Companies leading projects supported in COVID-19 Diagnostics and Systems shared their experience and expertise along with companies that previously received TÜBİTAK support.

Companies leading projects that qualified for support in "diagnostics and systems" under TÜBİTAK's "Call for Combating COVID-19" presented their projects and capabilities at the "COVID-19 Türkiye Platform Türkiye's Diagnostic Power Conference."

The conference was held with the participation of Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank and TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal.

In his opening speech, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank emphasized that Türkiye has a strong industrial infrastructure and developed R&D ecosystem, then addressed the economic, social and psychological effects of the virus, stating "As a country, we passed a successful test in these challenging times."

Varank expressed that as a ministry, they are striving to develop national solutions in health technologies, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices with their National Technology Initiative vision.

Explaining that Türkiye accomplished what no one else could during the pandemic, Varank said: "We are following a science and technology-based approach in fighting COVID-19. TÜBİTAK and its institutes are working. We started our vaccine and drug development studies before the virus entered our country's borders. 17 of our projects are continuing successfully. Among these are eight vaccine projects, and we anticipate completing pre-clinical processes by the end of the year. We might obtain earlier results in some vaccine projects. In one project, we are at the animal testing stage, and we will soon begin these experiments in two other projects."

"The Better You Are at Diagnosis, The More Effective Your Treatment Becomes"

Varank noted that nine different projects focusing on both chemical and biotechnology in pharmaceuticals are ongoing, stating "In June, we will have important good news in synthetic drug development using domestic resources from one of these projects."

Explaining that they allocated 2.3 billion liras to approximately three thousand projects for pre-clinical research in the last five years, Minister Varank said, "In the same period, we supported 516 projects worth 402 million liras in medical devices, including diagnostic kits. We are utilizing these capabilities in the fight against COVID-19 and can produce effective solutions specific to the pandemic environment's needs."

Minister Varank noted that the flatter the disease curve, the greater the chance for scientific solutions to be implemented, stating "Medical diagnostic kits are one of the important technologies contributing to this process. The better you are at diagnosis, the more effective your treatment becomes."

Varank reported that in addition to TÜBİTAK's existing support, they launched a rapid call specific to the COVID-19 pandemic and requested product-focused projects from SMEs, receiving 446 applications in one week.

Varank mentioned 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 monitoring stages, and smart healthcare, noting that they supported 10 projects within the scope of this diagnostic call.

Minister Varank expressed that through the presentations made under the program, insights would be gained about kits to be produced with sensitive and high-precision innovative technology, portable laboratories, hybrid and thermal cameras, microfluidic chip methods, and artificial intelligence-based applications.

Stating that Assistant Professor Dr. Selim Hanay developed an innovative kit as an alternative to the PCR method for early detection of COVID-19, Varank made the following assessment: "This kit aims to obtain results in 30 minutes during COVID-19's incubation period, before disease symptoms appear. The working system includes a nanomechanical system based on weighing viruses rather than biochemical reactions. We will hear about this innovative approach, which is unprecedented in the world, for the first time here. The prototype is planned to be completed in June. A kit that could set an example for the world is being developed in this project. We also have companies we support in diagnostics. We are strong in diagnostics, now it's time to be pioneers."

Two New Calls for Support

Sharing information about two new calls that closely concern companies and ecosystem stakeholders, Varank stated that the first one is the "SME Support Call for Order-Based R&D Projects."

Noting that under this call, they expect joint applications from at least one supplier organization and one customer organization at SME scale, Varank said, "We have no topic or sector limitations. While SMEs develop the product according to R&D studies, the customer company will support the R&D project's execution as intended. Knowledge will be shared, disseminated, and quickly turned into products. The joint development mechanism will gain speed in projects focusing on R&D."

Varank stated that the second call is aimed at "Supporting Patent-Based Technology Transfer," announcing that this call targets the transfer of patented technologies to industry. Varank expressed that they will quickly begin accepting applications for both calls.

Recalling that a cooperation protocol was signed between TÜBİTAK and the State Supply Office (DMO) last year, Varank said that products developed using TÜBİTAK Technology and Innovation Support Programs Directorate (TEYDEB) R&D incentives will be directly included in DMO's Techno Catalog Platform, thus enabling these products to be sold to the public sector. Varank announced that in this system, where orders up to 500 thousand liras can be placed at once, payments will be made within 10 days at the latest.

"If We Start Getting Good News in June, Our Fight Against Coronavirus Will Be Crowned"

In the conference, Minister Varank carefully listened to the presentations and obtained detailed information about ongoing COVID-19 diagnostic studies through questions directed to the participants.

Thanking scientists and companies striving to contribute to the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Varank said, "If we start getting good news in June, it will be important for crowning our success in the fight against coronavirus and boosting our nation's morale. If we can transform these into added value commercially and economically and market them to the whole world, that contribution would be excellent."

In response to a question about accelerating the evaluation processes of R&D project applications for COVID-19, Minister Varank emphasized that they are making efforts to meet the needs in this field and motivate scientists and entrepreneurs. Pointing out that R&D processes normally take much longer to conclude, Varank noted: "Here, our entrepreneurs are working with great sacrifice. If we can get results even in these timeframes, we will be far ahead of the world. We are doing our best to address the need for resources and motivation, we are in constant contact. We are trying to provide necessary support to universities so that academia can contribute more to these efforts. These timeframes are actually much faster than what's reasonable. One of our products will start being sold in the market, our diagnostic kits, PCR kits are being produced in millions and exported. We have no problems with products that meet the market's normal needs, but we are trying to create added value through innovation and stay ahead of the world."

TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal: "We Are in a Total Mobilization During the COVID-19 Process"

TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, in his opening speech at the conference, recalled that studies on vaccines and drugs, our capabilities in this field, and future projects were shared at the "Vaccine and Drug Development Virtual Conference" held on April 2, 2020, under the coordination of the "COVID-19 Türkiye Platform."

Prof. Dr. Mandal recalled that at the mentioned meeting, in addition to vaccines and medications, there was a request for a separate virtual conference specifically on diagnostic systems where Türkiye has shown strong potential not only for domestic use but also for export. He then provided information about the work carried out between the two meetings.

"The Coronavirus Process Has Also Accelerated TÜBİTAK's Processes"

Prof. Dr. Mandal indicated that TÜBİTAK's evaluation processes have also accelerated during the coronavirus period, noting that virtual company visits have been an important experience and this method will continue to be used in TÜBİTAK support programs. Reminding that TÜBİTAK projects normally could extend up to three years, Prof. Dr. Mandal stated that projects under the COVID-19 call are limited to nine months, with results targeted to be obtained by the end of this year at the latest. Noting that they receive evaluations from companies almost weekly, Prof. Dr. Mandal said, "We ask what stage they're at, if there are any deficiencies, and if we can make any contributions. With our TÜBİTAK experts, we try to reach results quickly by contributing as if it were our own project."

"Difficult Times Are Also Times of Creating Opportunities"

Pointing out that difficult times are also times for creating opportunities, Prof. Dr. Mandal addressed scientists and companies: "We are treating this difficult period as an opportunity-creating period. We will always be by your side during this process. We made you feel this during the project evaluation process. We will be in communication with you weekly. These are projects supported by public resources, and we will share successful work and results with the public periodically starting from June. You can reach us 24/7, just as we can reach the Ministry of Industry and Technology. We are always ready if case-specific requests come in."

Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal concluded the conference by thanking the participants for witnessing Türkiye's diagnostic power. The conference was broadcast online through TÜBİTAK's Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.