Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that the Scientific Board is planning for gene therapy needed by patients diagnosed with SMA, and the treatment will soon be implemented. Dr. Lecturer Cihan Taştan stated that this news greatly excited them as researchers who have long been investigating, developing, and trying to produce genetic therapy studies domestically, saying, “Especially the fact that genetic therapy studies for SMA disease will start to be tried in Turkey is encouraging for the development and implementation of fast and long-term treatments.”
Long-term hope for our country and those affected by rare diseases
Dr. Lecturer Cihan Taştan from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, who has been conducting research on the genetic treatment of rare diseases for many years at the Üsküdar Üniversitesi Transgenic Cell Technologies and Epigenetics Application and Research Center (TRGENMER), evaluated the statements of Health Minister Fahrettin Koca regarding the rare diseases hospital to be established in Istanbul and SMA gene therapy plans.
Dr. Taştan: “Genetic therapy studies being tried in Turkey is encouraging”
Evaluating Health Minister Fahrettin Koca's statement that the Scientific Board is planning for gene therapy needed by patients diagnosed with SMA and that the treatment will soon be implemented, Dr. Lecturer Cihan Taştan said, “The statement made by our Health Minister, Mr. Fahrettin Koca, greatly excited our research team, who have long been investigating, developing, and trying to produce genetic therapy studies domestically. Especially the fact that genetic therapy studies for SMA disease will begin to be tried in Turkey within a specific disease group, is encouraging for our country and our patients in terms of developing and implementing rapid and long-term treatments.”
Dr. Taştan: “I believe SMA gene therapy efficacy studies should be conducted at the molecular level.”
Taştan stated that there are certain criteria during the application of SMA gene therapy trials, and continued, “We believe that our SMA Scientific Board will effectively make the correct evaluations in patients who meet these criteria. I have been working on SMA gene therapy research and development for over 2 years. I also believe that the efficacy studies of SMA gene therapy, depending on the sequence of application and time, should be carried out at the molecular level. For the success of a genetic therapy trial, I believe that research should be focused on evaluating the patient's genetic therapy product and also the cell phenotype at the molecular level.”
“We are ready to provide support willingly…”
Dr. Lecturer Cihan Taştan stated that they would gladly support molecular-level efficacy quality control and characterization studies in the Scientific Board and the centers where the SMA gene therapy trials, which will be conducted for the first time in Turkey, will take place, and also touched upon another good news announced by Minister Fahrettin Koca.
Taştan, stating that the planning of a hospital to be established solely for rare diseases is gratifying, concluded his words as follows:
“The fact that genetic therapy drugs will also be developed in this hospital greatly pleased us scientists who have long planned and dreamed of this. As a scientist involved in genetic therapy studies, I am a researcher who has repeatedly announced on social media the necessity of a rare diseases clinical gene therapy research, development, and application hospital. I believe this good news is promising and adds value in the long term for our country and millions of people affected by rare diseases.”