Could you provide a brief introduction to the institute and an overview of its development?

TUBITAK MAM GEBI is the national research institute for finding and conducting biopharmaceutical research and development in Turkey. Our institute has been working on the development and production of antibodies since 1992 for the diagnostics and therapy of certain diseases. We produce not only for Turkey but also for the global markets; therefore we aim to conform to international standards in terms of our infrastructure and personnel training. While numerous companies and institutions began their work with biosimilars, we chose to focus on developing original recombinant whole and partial monoclonal antibodies using antibody engineering. Our target is to develop valuable endogenous molecules with patent protection. We have several original novel recombinant antiangiogenic monoclonal antibodies and peptide structures protected by patents from several countries such as the United States, China, Korea and Turkey as novel reference drug candidates. We collaborate with national pharmaceutical companies to produce biosimilars as well. Although we have patents, commercializing novel original active molecules is not so simple. We rely on public funding and require solid grounds and collaboration with pharmaceutical companies to commence our projects.

Why is biotechnology an important sector for Turkey and what is your role in achieving milestones within this sector? 

We believe that in the future, 30 out of the 50 best-selling molecules will be biopharmaceutical. The Turkish market has reached approximately US$7 billion, and 20% of prescription sales come from biopharmaceutical products produced locally and from imports. Seeing this opportunity in biopharmaceuticals, we want to seize the opportunity and learn the cloning of recombinant antibodies to produce microbiological entities and continue working on large antibody molecules that are approximately 150 kilodaltons. We have state of art equipment and experience in the development, selection and production of the recombinant cells to produce biosimilars and original molecules.

How can the synergy between government, academia and the industry be improved?

Government has announced medical biotechnology is a priority technology area for funding. Soon after, government started providing budget to institutions and private companies, which has contributed greatly to the development of biotechnology in universities, research centers, TUBITAK institutions and pharmaceutical companies.

What are the current research capabilities at GEBI?

Our infrastructure consists of nine laboratories and is key to the production of biosimilars and original molecules.  Our patented anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) and anti-VEGFR2 molecules, peptides and monoclonal antibody fragments are now getting close to the market and this is something we have been studying for the past 16 years since 2003 at TUBITAK. Our aim is to work on therapeutically important recombinant antibodies and peptide structures for the future. We are establishing a new biotechnology center ‘MEDIBIYO’ where we will work on development of novel Mabs and Mab fragments as well as other novel diagnostic and therapeutic peptides for the health industry. 

In addition to our strength in antibody discovery and production, we are expanding our research in various fields including theranostics (both diagnostic and therapeutic) and nanoparticle-based drug delivery for cancer therapy and diagnosis. In the application of theranostics photodynamic therapy, we are also dealing with developing effective compounds as a combination of highly competitive and effective new molecules, which are anti-angiogenic and effective photosensitizers. On the other hand, nanoparticle based therapies and drug delivery system for anti-cancer agents especially functionalized with monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) are our new expanded field. Advances in recombinant DNA technology are the keys to pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. These developments promise to result in more effective, individualized therapy and advances in preventive medicine. In this context, we will continue to work on a new generation of therapeutic approaches based on recombinant DNA technology.

We believe that the biopharmaceutical industry will have a strong impact on Turkish economy in the future and be placed among the first three industries to strengthen the country’s economic power.