Tuğba Koç, General Manager and Board Member of Onko İlaç

We conducted an interview with Tuğba Koç, General Director and Board Member of Onko İlaç, discussing the company, its R&D center and investments, and the importance of technology in the medical field.

Could you tell us about yourself and your professional background?

I was born in Istanbul. In 2004, I completed my education at Miami University with honors, majoring in Industrial Engineering and minoring in Mathematics. I continued my higher education at the same university, completing my Master's degrees in Industrial Engineering and Management in 2005. I began my career in 2006 in the United States, providing consulting services to 3 different companies and projects. I interned in the Marketing and Production departments of a multinational firm. In 2008, I joined the Board of Directors of Onko Koçsel İlaçları. Since 2008, I have served as General Director responsible for the company's Marketing, Sales and Production activities. I am a member of TÜSİAD, DEİK, Kocaeli Women Entrepreneurs Association and Pembe İzler Association. In April 2018, I was elected to the position of Chairman of the Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce Professional Committee, and I also work on the Medical and Agricultural Chemicals Group Committee.

In which medical fields do you conduct scientific research and manufacturing?

At our facilities, we produce oncology, sterile liquid, non-sterile solid and non-oncology non-sterile liquid products. We are an experienced company in specialized and narrow product areas. Therefore, our priority is to provide diagnostic and treatment options that contribute to human health and improve quality of life, particularly in fields such as oncology, hematology, radiology and rheumatology, first to our country and then to the world. Products derived from plasma; contrast agents used in computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging; oncology and oncology support products and tumor profiling service; and our rheumatology portfolio—we currently hold licenses for 89 medicines, 36 of which are manufactured. Our goal for the next 3 years is to increase this number to 200. Of course, our aim is to bring all these newly developed products to market as quickly as possible.

What investments have you made in R&D within Onko İlaç? What would you like to say about the Onko Isolation Technology used in your R&D center?

The Onko İlaç R&D Center, approved by the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology in September 2015, operates as the first oncological R&D center with GMP manufacturing license in Turkey. Our R&D center and facilities throughout our operations are equipped with European-origin equipment. In fact, nearly all of our equipment has been procured and invested from leading German machinery manufacturers with global expertise. Our R&D center also has Analytical Development Laboratory, Formulation Development Laboratory, Pilot Production and Stability units, and is equipped with approximately 200 advanced technology machines, devices and equipment. Unlike comparable facilities, Onko İlaç, designed according to production flow with R&D pilot production and laboratory areas, operates Turkey's pharmaceutical sector's largest and most fully equipped first R&D center in the oncology field. The machines we use in oncology drug manufacturing are designed to comply with the highest occupational exposure levels (OEL) of 4/5. We are the first and only factory in Turkey to have advanced technology equipment and machines with full containment features to fully protect the environment and our employees in our R&D production lines and laboratories.

The market in the oncology field in which we operate is growing with great momentum globally.

 

What measures have you taken to protect the environment and human health during production, and what corporate responsibility projects are you implementing?

Through advanced technology machines with isolator and containment features used in oncology drug manufacturing, we completely eliminate personnel contact with toxic substances and products, while also preventing these toxic materials from dispersing into the environment and causing environmental damage. These machines are also located in specially designed production areas, and as a secondary measure, waste air collected from the areas is passed through special filters (HEPA) before being released through exhaust stacks to the environment. In this way, through the use of advanced technology, we conduct our production with the principle of protecting both our employees and our environment. As Onko İlaç, through our global expansion and projects, we carry our sectoral knowledge and experience in our country to global markets, providing our country with significant economic benefits toward closing the current account deficit in this area while facilitating access to high-quality cancer drugs produced with high production standards in global markets. Thus, we will continue to take pride in our contribution to the quality of life, and even life expectancy, of more cancer patients.