Phase 3 study on Turkish vaccine published for first time

By Burcu Calik Gocumlu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's study of its CoronaVac published in The Lancet medical journal is the first Phase 3 study in the world with results published in a scientific journal.

Two doses against symptomatic COVID-19 had 83.5% efficiency, according to intermediate results of the randomized Phase 3 study conducted with more than 10,000 participants aged 18 – 59.

It was led by Hacettepe University in Ankara, regarding the CoronaVac vaccine developed by the Chinese company, Sinovac,

Data obtained with the participation of researchers from 24 centers in Turkey, were published in The Lancet, one of the world's leading peer-reviewed scientific medical journals.

Murat Akova, a scientist at Hacettepe Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, told Anadolu Agency that Phase 3 studies were previously carried out in Indonesia and Brazil but results have not been published in an international peer-reviewed medical journal until now.

"The results of the Phase 3 study conducted in Turkey with the Sinovac vaccine are the first randomized controlled studies in the world on this subject and published in a peer-reviewed journal," said Akova, who is also coordinator author of the study.

He was happy about realizing the study with his colleagues.

"The results presented on the effectiveness of the vaccine are a very important development for the world as well as for Turkey," noted Akova.

Stating that no life-threatening side effects were found during, he said it is an effective and safe vaccine that produces sufficient antibodies, according to the findings.