Drug used in cancer treatment to be produced in Turkey

Pharmaceutical company Abdi İbrahim has announced that, through a technology transfer agreement signed with the Spanish biosimilar developer mAbxience, a cancer drug previously available only through imports will now be produced at AbdiBio.

The technology transfer, which will enable the production of the drug used in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (the most common and difficult-to-treat brain tumor), and cervical cancer in Turkey, is a first for Turkey in the field of biotechnology as it involves production "starting from the cell," meaning the direct production of the monoclonal antibody (mAb) molecule.

TO ENTER THE TURKISH MARKET IN 2026

Technology transfer efforts for the production of the product in our country are planned to begin in 2024, with the product expected to be introduced to the Turkish market by mid-2026.

'A CRITICAL STEP'

Abdi İbrahim Chairman of the Board Nezih Barut highlighted the importance of the agreement and provided the following information:

“Our licensor partnership with mAbxience, whose products are used in more than 100 countries around the world, has been ongoing since 2012. The most critical stage in biotechnology products is the process of obtaining protein from the cell.

With this technology transfer, we are localizing a biotechnology product in all its stages by producing the protein ourselves. The ability to produce from the cell is a highly critical step because it reduces foreign dependency on pharmaceutical raw materials and makes a positive contribution to the national economy. This agreement is a significant turning point both for the Turkish pharmaceutical industry and for Abdi İbrahim’s journey to becoming a leading company in the field of biotechnology.”

"IMPORT DEPENDENCY WILL DECREASE"

Nezih Barut continued his words as follows:

“Imported drugs, which account for only 10 percent of the volume in terms of boxes, hold a 45 percent share of our country's pharmaceutical market in terms of value. The share of imported biotechnological drugs within total imported drugs is 37 percent. Approximately 18 billion TL is spent on imported biotechnological drugs in our country.

As a result of the technology transfer agreement, which will be a first for 'mAb' products due to it being from the cell, we aim to significantly reduce the imports of the cancer drug in question and facilitate patients' access to the medication once we switch to domestic production. As Abdi İbrahim, we will continue to achieve firsts in our journey to improve the future and life.”