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Phase 1 Success for Türkiye’s First Novel Drug Candidate from the Boğaziçi CT³ Ecosystem
Boğaziçi University’s Center for Targeted Therapy Technologies (Boğaziçi CT³), positioned as Türkiye’s hub for translational health technology development, has reached another major milestone. As a concrete outcome of research extending from basic science to the clinic, RS-0139 has successfully completed its Phase 1 clinical trial. Developed by biotech company RS Research, co-founded by Boğaziçi CT³ researcher Prof. Dr. Rana Sanyal, it is Türkiye’s first novel drug candidate to reach from discovery to the clinic.
This achievement is a strong indication of Boğaziçi CT³’s capacity to transform basic scientific research into clinical applications and products by integrating advanced technological infrastructure, interdisciplinary collaborations, and an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Prof. Dr. Rana Sanyal has played a central role in this success as the Director of Boğaziçi University’s Life Sciences and Technologies Center (LifeSci), a member of the Boğaziçi CT³ Board of Directors and Executive Board, and an active researcher within the Center.
RS Research’s scientific journey began within the LifeSci infrastructure at Boğaziçi University, and today its basic research activities continues under Boğaziçi CT³, supported by advanced research infrastructure focused on targeted therapy technologies. As a national research infrastructure with official status under Law No. 6550, Boğaziçi CT³ provides integrated support at every stage, from basic science to preclinical development and preclinical validation.
Developing smart nanomedicines for targeted chemotherapy, RS Research has passed an important milestone with its lead candidate RS-0139, built on its proprietary drug delivery platform technology Sagitta®. The company’s early-stage R&D operations, located in Boğaziçi Technopark, function in close integration with Boğaziçi CT³ infrastructure. The production of the research material was carried out at the company’s GMP-certified facility established in Teknopark Istanbul, in collaboration with the Istanbul Health Industry Cluster, of which our Center is also a stakeholder. The Phase 1 clinical trials were conducted at SBU Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital and Koç University Hospital.
Boğaziçi CT³ is positioned not only as an infrastructure that supports academic research, but also as a center where translational R&D in healthcare is integrated with industry. In this context, as of December 2025, the Center received its OECD Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) Statement of Compliance, documenting that it meets OECD standards in terms of quality assurance, data integrity, and compliance with international regulations for preclinical studies.
Preclinical studies for other drug candidates in the RS Research portfolio are also ongoing within Boğaziçi CT³ infrastructure, and this achievement constitutes a concrete and scalable example of Boğaziçi CT³’s translational model extending from bench to bedside.
The Phase 1 success of this drug candidate, developed in Türkiye with the goal of reaching global markets, marks an important milestone for the country’s drug development capacity and ecosystem.
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