Turkey’s pharma market, the 18th largest in the world and valued at USD 7 Billion in 2020, has seen steady growth over the past few years due to favorable healthcare reforms and increased government support. According to a new report from Invest in Turkeye, in 2020 the country accounted for approximately 1.5% of the global pharmaceutical market.

 

Snapshot of the pharmaceutical industry in Turkey:

 

R&D

The report covers some of the Turkish government’s public sector R&D incentives, including the Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey’s (TÜBİTAK) support of 3,347 R&D and innovation projects with total budgets exceeding TL 2.5 billion since 2012.

With respect to the private sector, the reports claims that there are a total of 12 raw material production facilities that have been approved by The Turkish Medicine and Medical Devices Authority (TİTCK) – Albia, Atabay, Bionom, Deva Gensenta, Koçak, Konya Şeker, Med-Mar, Neutec, Sandoz, Toprak and Ulkar (Nobel) – as well as 10 radiopharmaceutical facilities and 9 advanced treatment medical product facilities.

 

A few key players in Turkey

The report also identifies a few of the top companies operating in Turkey.

  • Deva Holding: Production and marketing of finished pharmaceutical products, pharmaceutical ingredients and veterinary products, as well as animal health products, among others. Deva has four production facilities in Turkey.
  • Abdi İbrahim: Founded in 1912, Abdi İbrahim has nearly 200 brands and more than 400 products which it develops itself and with 30 licensors. Abdi İbrahim operates in 15 countries outside Turkey and exports to more than 60 countries.
  • Koçak Farma: Koçak Farma has been meeting the tuberculosis drug needs of the Ministry of Health for 45 years and was granted the “domestic investment incentive award in oncology” by the Ministry of Health of Turkey in 2013 and 2016, due to its contributions to the treatment of cancer patients. Koçak Farma conducts studies on conventional drugs, biotechnological products and vaccines.
  • İlko İlaç: ILKO, a subsidiary of Selçuklu, was founded in 2012. ILKO has over 600 employees with 69 products in different therapeutic areas such as central nervous system, respiratory system, anti-infectives, musco-skeletal system, cardiovascular, and hematology. ILKO exports to more than 19 countries.
  • Sanovel Ilac: Sanovel Ilac, founded in 1983, manufactures, markets, and distributes human and veterinary pharmaceutical products including drugs, syrups, and powders for analgesic-anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, antidiabetics, antifungals, antihistamines, antivirals, and cardiovascular system therapeutics.
  • Onko İlaç: Onko Koçsel Pharmaceuticals became known in 1987 by introducing blood derivative products in Turkey and becoming an exclusive distributor for a number of European companies. It is focused mainly on oncology, hematology, rheumatology and radiology.
  • Atabay Kimya: Founded in 1971, the company manufactures and processes drugs in pharmaceutical preparations for human or veterinary use.
  • Nobel İlaç: Founded in 1964, Nobel is a generics company with one API production site, 3 R&D facilities and 3 finished dosage form (FDF) production sites in 3 countries (Turkey, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) and a biosimilars manufacturing plant. Nobel operates in 22 markets through it affiliates and partners.

See PharmaBoardroom’s 2021 snapshot of the Turkish pharma industry