Nasal vaccine nears human trials, company CEO says

AHMET Ahlatcı, CEO of Ahlatcı Holding which is developing the first nasal COVID-19 vaccine of Turkey, told a webinar on Tuesday that animal trials of the jab had concluded and they would soon start human trials. “We hope to share good news soon,” Ahlatcı told the event organized by Turkuvaz Media Group’s InBusiness magazine yesterday.

Ahlatcı said the company had already developed one of the world’s fastest coronavirus diagnosis kits and that it took them one year to develop a vaccine. “Our vaccine differs from conventional and modern vaccines as a proteinbased vaccine. It is more reliable. With nasal application, we wanted to fight the virus by chasing it through the path it (usually) enters and attacks the body. Having a protein-based vaccine is an advantage as it can be modified faster to respond to mutated variants of the virus and can be used as a model for a vaccine for future infectious disease,” he said.

The event is the latest in a series of webinars and explored the theme of health amid the coronavirus pandemic. It is a part of the yearlong Global Hope Festival that delves into issues of sustainability. Participants from different backgrounds discussed health care during the pandemic and its impact on business life. InBusiness Editor-in-Chief Hülya Güler said in her opening speech that the webinar series, which will culminate with an in-person event in October, aims to inform the public and business world about the 17 sustainability goals set by the United Nations and that they aim to reach 1 million people through inspiring stories of sustainability.