The invention "A palladium complex with a high anti-cancer effect" developed by a research team comprising of the Director of the Molecular Cancer Research Center of Istinye University and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Engin Ulukaya, Faculty members of Uludağ University Prof. Veysel Turan Yılmaz and Dr. Ceyda İçsel and Thesally University Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. received the second highest score in a ranking of TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) patents for industry representatives, placing the project on the top ten list. There were 108 applications from 27 universities to be admitted to the program.
Talking about this spectacular achievement, Prof. Engin Ulukaya underlined the fact that this was a project designed and executed exclusively by Turkish scientists and that they had gotten to a stage where they could start with clinical trials on humans apart from acute toxicity studies on animals and added, “We were extremely pleased to hear the project was deemed worthy of pitching to investors. It made us even more proud that we got the second highest score in a contest with 108 other applications. Our invention concerns a new potential drug appearing to be effective in the treatment of colorectal cancer, on the basis of animal studies conducted so far, that is a much cheaper alternative than its equivalent (oxaliplatin).