Atabay İlaç Celebrates Its 83rd Anniversary

Atabay İlaç, one of the sector's leading companies in pharmaceutical active ingredient manufacturing and finished drug development, which set out with the goal of 'making Turkey self-sufficient in pharmaceuticals', is celebrating its 83rd anniversary.   Atabay İlaç and Kimya, whose foundations were laid in 1939 with the establishment of the 'Şark Merkez' Pharmacy Depot by Pharmacist Ö. Kemalettin Atabay, holds GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) approval from the Ministry of Health in all its facilities. Among the pioneering companies in Turkey conducting R&D investment and training human resources in biotechnological drug and biosimilar development, Atabay has become the sole manufacturer in Europe and nearby regions of Paracetamol, Oseltamivir and Favipiravir active ingredients through backward integration and advanced synthesis methods developed over time. Atabay, which supplies these active ingredients to 35 countries worldwide, began its biotechnology investment in 2013 by developing Enoxaparin, one of Turkey's first biotechnological products, and continued with the establishment of a microbial biosimilar R&D and production facility. By obtaining accreditation from the T.C. Ministry of Technology and Industry in 2019 for the Acıbadem R&D Facility and in 2022 for the Gebze R&D Facility, it became the sole R&D Center housing Biotechnology and Vaccine R&D, Small Molecule Synthesis, Standardized Plant Extraction R&D and state-of-the-art analytical laboratories under one roof. Strengthening cooperation with University Technology Transfer Offices and Technology Parks in our country During the pandemic period, Atabay demonstrated its commitment once again with drug and vaccine R&D investments developed against Covid-19, ranking 75th in the 2020 'Turkish Time R&D 250' list, and proceeded on its path to meet the medicines needed by the public even in difficult times. Atabay Biotechnology is one of 5 facilities with GMP approval from the T.C. Ministry of Health holding vaccine production licenses and one of 3 facilities holding microbial biosimilar production licenses in our country. The 'Recombinant Protein RBD Subunit Vaccine', developed by the TUBITAK-supported İzmir Biyotıp and Genom Center (IBG) for the Covid-19 pandemic and highly critical as a platform vaccine technology, is being produced for clinical studies in the GMP-approved Atabay Biotechnology Facility. Atabay, which develops public-university-industry cooperation projects with 10 Turkish universities, also conducts strategic R&D projects with TUBITAK Marmara Research Center. Through its membership in the University-Industry Cooperation Center Platform (ÜSİMP), it strengthens cooperation with numerous University Technology Transfer Offices and Technology Parks in our country.

Over 100 medicines licensed

Atabay, as the sole company whose core competence and philosophy is pharmaceutical active ingredient manufacturing, works toward advancing domestic and national drug production and reducing drug import dependency. To date, Atabay has synthesized over 150 pharmaceutical active ingredients and licensed over 100 medicines. Having applied to the Technology-Driven Industry Initiative Program to increase domestic pharmaceutical active ingredient production capacity, Atabay allocates its annual profits to manufacturing facilities, product development and R&D. In August 2021, Atabay became the first company to complete TUBITAK KAMAG-supported national biosimilar R&D up to the clinical trials stage, and in 2021 obtained a Microbial Vaccine GMP Pilot Production Facility license for its Biotechnology Facility, preparing vaccine samples for clinical studies. Atabay strengthens cooperation with TUBITAK MAM, universities and startups, and further expanded its domestic and national herbal medicine 'seed-to-shelf' project by establishing a new platform in its developed Traditional Herbal Medicine Product (THMP) portfolio.

Will focus more on exports

Atabay Kimya Board Chairman Zeynep Atabay, emphasizing that they aim for 100 percent domestic drug development, continued as follows:

"We are a third-generation family company that is based on human health and environmental protection, produces economically what the public needs, and develops these medicines; we have undertaken this work as a patriotic duty. With the sense of duty 'Health from Past to Future', we continue to develop synthesis, biotechnology and finished products that impact our nearby region by believing in science, experience and cooperation. In the period ahead, we will give greater weight to exports. Currently, over 90 percent of pharmaceutical active ingredients used in our country are sourced from abroad. We are among the few leading companies in domestic production. We aim to reduce foreign dependency."  

We will develop the necessary active ingredients in our country

Noting that the pharmaceutical sector is one of the most strategic areas for a country alongside education, defense, energy and agriculture sectors, Zeynep Atabay stated: "With climate change, pandemic and economic uncertainties, we saw that in strategic matters, a country must be self-sufficient domestically. As Atabay, the 'stakeholder culture' and 'social purpose'-oriented approach we have built within ourselves over the years enabled us to produce necessary medicines much faster than many other companies during the pandemic period. In the period ahead, we will continue to develop new medicines and vaccines related to Covid-19 and infectious diseases that may follow. Furthermore, through increased capacity in our pharmaceutical active ingredient (API) production facility, which is our area of expertise, we aim to develop the necessary active ingredients for many medicines domestically," she said.  

Companies will place greater emphasis on cooperation with startups

Mentioning that biotechnological medicines are coming to the forefront in the sector, Zeynep Atabay stated: "Biotechnological methods are also used in vaccine development. We expect increased investment in vaccine and biotechnology areas and government support for this. When we say 'new products, technologies', these come through spin-off structures – R&D conducted by inventor academics within universities, subsequently corporatized in technology parks. We will see this approach in our country shortly. Companies will engage in cooperation with these spin-off startups and develop innovative products," she said.  

Our aim is to develop medicines that can reach every household in need

"As Atabay, our objective has always been to make Turkey independent in pharmaceuticals by developing medicines that can reach every household in need," said Zeynep Atabay, noting that in line with this vision, they plan to expand pharmaceutical active ingredient facilities to cut foreign dependency. Atabay continued: "We view Traditional Herbal Medicine Products (THMP), that is, herbal medicines, as very important. We plan to develop 100 percent domestic medicines from plants grown in our country, using good agricultural practices (GAP) in industrial farming. Furthermore, we have set a zero waste target for our facilities. For this reason, to reduce our burden on our home, that is, nature, we will place greater emphasis on industrial symbiosis projects."