2. Turkey: The Potential for Clinical Trials
The potential for conducting The goal is to have 40,000
Clinical trials in Turkey is people working in this area by
enormous. There are 94 the year 2010. The annual
universities, 59 medical schools, budget reserved for clinical
1190 hospitals, 200,000 hospital trials by the pharmaceutical
beds. 95,100 medical doctors are in companies in Turkey was 27.5
practice and 46% are specialized. If million dollars in 2005.
we look at the number and
distribution of Research and
Development personnel, they can
be broken down as follows:
37% technological sciences,
19% maths, physics, life science
14% medical sciences,
11% agriculture
3. The Increasing Interest
In the last ten years, the
This increase has
number of physicians who
necessitated the
wish to conduct a clinical
pharmaceutical companies to
trial has increased, mainly
outsource their load. At
due to an increase in the
present, there are around 15
awareness of the
CROs in Turkey, working
importance of clinical trials
mainly for the pharmaceutical
and the increasing interest
companies.
of pharmaceutical
companies.
5. Clinical Research- Important Advantages
Growing Population
With a expanding population of 74
million and a developing
infrastructure, Turkey is a promising
plateau for clinical research. The EU
integration process will provide a
better future for clinical drug trials
and the GCP education programs will
increase the number of qualified
clinical researchers and ethical
committee members.
Rate of Population Growth between the
years 1961 - 2001
6. Untapped market
During the last 25 years the liberal economic policies
of several governments have opened the Turkish
markets to foreign investors and the clinical research
is no exception. The current estimate that drug trials
comprise around 10 million dollars in activity for
Turkey annually is still considered to be quite low
compared to many European countries, but the
gradually increasing number of trials is expected to
have a significant impact in medical, scientific and
economic progress.
Well established medical and regulatory infrastructure
Important advantages that Turkey offers are the
presence of well- equipped and high level university
and state hospitals, well-trained specialized clinicians:
lower costs associated with ethical reviews, regulatory
approvals and investigator compensation, and a good
success rate for patient recruitment.
7. Phase Clinical Trials in
Phase Clinical Trials in
Turkey 1997-2006
Turkey 1997-2006
250
250
200 Phase I
200 Phase I
150 Phase II
150 Phase II
Phase III
100 Phase III
100 Phase IV
Phase IV
50 Total
50 Total
0
0
7
98 8
9
00 0
1
02 2
2003 3
04 4
2005 5
06 6
1919 9
19 9
1919 9
20 0
2020 0
20 0
2020 0
20 0
2020 0
20 0
1997
2909
2001
8. Approval of
Approval of
Preparation of Local
Preparation of Local
Local Dossier Ethics
Local Dossier Ethics
Committees
Committees
Submission to
Submission to Submission to
Submission to Ministry of Submission for
Local Ethic Ministry of Submission for
Local Ethic Health Import License
Committee Health Import License
Committee
Approval by Ministry of
Approval by Ministry of
Health
Health
Timelines for study approvals
Timelines for study approvals
1 1 2
2 weeks 2 weeks week week 2 months days
9. The Advantage of a Local CRO partner
Local CROs, and international organizations with a strong local presence, can
provide an answer to the challenges of emerging markets.
As the clinical trial markets in these countries grow, the number of CROs with local
knowledge is also increasing.
A local CRO can understand the Turkish
A local CRO can understand the Turkish
market, how ititfunctions and the most
market, how functions and the most
expedient ways to solve problems.
expedient ways to solve problems.
A local CRO can understand how to reduce costs and
A local CRO can understand how to reduce costs and
save time when conducting aastudy in Turkey
save time when conducting study in Turkey
10. “While many U.S- and European-based pharma / biotech
companies are looking for novel sites for clinical trials,
Turkey, with her increasing number of medical schools
and highly specialized trained clinicians and scientists, is
becoming even more attractive as an investment and
professional site for clinical trials.”
Clinical Scientific Research Potentials
in Turkey 2007
