DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN SOURCES FOR PHARMACEUTICALS AND COSMETICS WILL DECREASE
The Pharmaceutical, Cosmetic, and Medical Device R&D and Analysis Laboratory of Yeditepe University Faculty of Pharmacy has been accredited by the Turkish Accreditation Agency. This accreditation will validate the international tests conducted in Türkiye for pharmaceutical, medical device, and cosmetic products and reduce dependence on foreign sources.
Vice-Rector of Yeditepe University, Director of the Pharmaceutical, Cosmetic, and Medical Device R&D Laboratory, and Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Toxicology at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Aydın, provided information regarding the accreditation received by the university's laboratory.
"FOR INTERNATIONAL ACCEPTANCE, THE INSTITUTION CONDUCTING THE EXPERIMENT MUST BE ACCREDITED"
Reminding that every new product produced in the fields of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and cosmetics needs to be tested to prove it is safe before being made available to the public, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Aydın said, "Experiments can be conducted without accreditation, but if you want a product to gain international acceptance, the laboratory performing those tests-experiments must be accredited."
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Aydın stated that in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility tests, genotoxicity tests, in vitro irritation tests, medical device conformity tests, and safety evaluations are conducted in the accredited laboratory, added, "We are currently conducting these tests in our laboratories.
Accreditation indicates that these tests are undoubtedly accurate, reliable, and of high quality."
Providing information about in vitro tests, Prof. Dr. Aydın said, "In the past, animal experiments were used to assess the irritation (irritancy) potential of cosmetic products. However, nowadays, skin is produced in the laboratory from skin cells obtained from humans using a developed method. We can test whether a cosmetic or other product irritates this laboratory-produced skin. We perform these experiments in a fully accredited and internationally accepted manner, thus avoiding the unnecessary use of experimental animals. This testing method was developed in the USA. Our university conducted this test in 2011 for the first time in Türkiye."
"WE TOOK A VERY IMPORTANT STEP TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN SOURCES"
Highlighting the importance of the accreditation for Türkiye, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Aydın stated:
"We started with the idea that if our industrialists are producing, these products need to be tested in our country, and we took one of the most important steps to reduce our country's dependence on foreign sources. We established these laboratories and received accreditation to achieve a result accepted by international organizations. When an entrepreneurial industrialist in Turkey produces their product and wants it tested in an internationally recognized laboratory, they won't have to send it abroad."
"PRODUCTS PRODUCED IN OUR COUNTRY WILL BE TESTED HERE AND OBTAIN THEIR LICENSE."
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Aydın mentioned that this situation would provide significant economic contributions to Turkey:
"It causes an incredible loss of resources for a producer in Turkey to use the services of an analysis laboratory abroad. With this accreditation from our university's laboratories, a product made in our country will be tested here, obtain its license, and be accepted internationally. Conducting these tests in Turkey will keep the capital that would otherwise go abroad within the country."
"WE ARE EXPORTING SERVICES"
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Aydın, stating that they also provide services to countries abroad, said, "We are actively conducting toxicological evaluations for products from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, thus exporting services."