"The Pharmaceutical Industry Is as Important as the Defense Industry"

Industry and Technology Minister Varank stated that Favicovir, the domestically synthesized version of Favipiravir drug used in Covid-19 treatment, is being administered to patients throughout Turkey, noting "We believe the pharmaceutical industry is as important as the defense industry."

According to a statement from the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Minister Mustafa Varank visited the Gebze facility of Atabay Kimya, where the drug synthesized from scratch using domestic resources in a short period against the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and put into use for treatment was produced. Varank was accompanied during his visit by Kocaeli Governor Seddar Yavuz, Head of the Grand National Assembly Petition Commission and Istanbul Member of Parliament Mihrimah Belma Satır, Atabay Kimya Board Vice Chairman Zeynep Atabay Taşkent and Factory Director Şahin Gürsel.

"THE DRUG IS NOW BEING GIVEN TO OUR PATIENTS THROUGHOUT TURKEY"

In his remarks cited in the statement, Minister Varank said that Atabay Ilaç, which came to public attention with the production of the drug containing the active ingredient Favipiravir used in Covid-19 treatment, licensed it under the name Favicovir.

Noting that there are several methods applied worldwide in Covid-19 treatment, Varank stated the following:

"The active ingredient Favipiravir is being used very intensively in the treatment of this disease. We were importing this drug from Japan and China. While vaccine development studies were being conducted in the Covid-19 Turkey Platform, the idea of synthesizing this drug from scratch in Turkey, that is, synthesizing it without needing to import the active ingredient, came up.   Source