TURKSTAT: The Number of Companies Engaged in Biotechnology Activities Rises to 687 in 2023
In 2023, 687 enterprises in Turkey engaged in biotechnology activities, applying at least one biotechnology technique in product or process development or production and/or conducting R&D related to biotechnology.
According to a statement made by TÜİK:
"The number of enterprises conducting biotechnology activities was 499 in 2020. When examining the number of enterprises utilizing at least one biotechnology technique by employee size groups; in 2023, it was noted that 490 enterprises had 1-9 employees, 101 enterprises had 10-49 employees, 54 enterprises had 50-249 employees, and 42 enterprises had 250+ employees.
The most commonly used biotechnology technique among enterprises was DNA/RNA. In 2023, the most utilized biotechnology technique by enterprises conducting biotechnology activities was DNA/RNA, with 326 enterprises applying this technique. Following this were 'process biotechnology techniques' used by 256 enterprises and 'proteins and other molecules' techniques used by 190 enterprises.
In biotechnology applications, human health ranked first. An analysis of biotechnology applications by enterprises conducting biotechnology activities revealed that in 2023, 39.7% of enterprises focused on human health (including other therapeutics, artificial substrates, diagnostic and drug delivery systems, etc.), 29.7% on agricultural biotechnology, and 24.3% on non-specific biotechnology applications.
The number of enterprises with biotechnology products in the market reached 400. The number of enterprises with biotechnology products in the market increased from 302 in 2020 to 400 in 2023. Among the 687 enterprises that stated they engaged in biotechnology activities, 607 had already developed processes requiring the use of biotechnology, 600 had developed goods or services requiring the use of biotechnology, and 568 viewed biotechnology as central to their operations or strategies.
The number of enterprises with biotechnology patent registrations was 130. The number of enterprises reporting biotechnology patent applications in 2023 was 167, up from 144 in 2020. When examining these enterprises by employee size groups, it was found that 120 had 1-9 employees, 26 had 10-49 employees, 13 had 50-249 employees, and 8 had 250+ employees. The total number of biotechnology patent applications from these enterprises was 379.
The number of enterprises with approved biotechnology patents was 130. When examining enterprises engaged in biotechnology activities with approved biotechnology patents by employee size groups, it was found that 66.2% had 1-9 employees, 20.0% had 10-49 employees, 10.8% had 50-249 employees, and 3.1% had 250+ employees. The number of registered biotechnology patents among these enterprises was 266, a slight decrease from 268 in 2020.
Biotechnology R&D expenditures amounted to 2 billion 493 million TL. R&D expenditures conducted by enterprises carrying out biotechnology activities reached 2 billion 493 million TL in 2023, compared to 446 million TL in 2020. The share of financial and non-financial companies in biotechnology R&D expenditures was 1.16% in 2020 and decreased to 1.01% in 2023.
In biotechnology activities, 3,987 individuals were employed in 2023. Among those working in biotechnology activities, 46.9% were male and 53.1% were female. Regarding educational qualifications, 17.0% had a PhD, 28.0% had a Master's degree, 38.4% had a Bachelor's degree, 6.6% had an associate degree, and 10.1% had a high school education or lower. The number of employees in biotechnology activities in terms of full-time equivalents in 2023 was 3,194, with 520 holding PhDs, 924 having Master's degrees, 1,202 with Bachelor's degrees, 221 with associate degrees, and 327 with high school education or less.
The most significant barrier to biotechnology R&D activities was access to capital. Among the 687 enterprises engaged in biotechnology activities, the primary obstacle in biotechnology R&D was "access to capital" at 63.6%, followed by "access to qualified human resources" at 55.2% and "importing genetic resources from abroad" at 31.0%. The largest barrier to the commercialization of biotechnology products was also "access to capital" at 59.5%, followed by "access to international markets" at 57.6% and "lack of distribution and marketing channels" at 56.9%.