PT Bio Farma can produce 3 billion vaccine doses in a year and export it to 153 countries, Developing the IndoVac vaccine was the first step in the effort to produce local pharmaceutical brands.
President Joko Widodo saw the process of injecting vaccines at the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine made by Bio Farma, IndoVac, at the PT Bio Farma (Persero) Factory, Bandung City, West Java Province, Thursday (13/10/2022)..
BANDUNG, KOMPAS – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has urged state-owned pharmaceutical holding company PT Bio Farma (Persero) to generate more revenue for the country from vaccine production while ensuring its output fulfilled domestic needs.
"Many people are not aware or have not yet been informed that Bio Farma can produce 3 billion vaccine doses in a year and export it to 153 countries," President Jokowi said on Thursday (13/10/2022) at the launch event for IndoVac, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Bio Farma, at the company’s factory in Bandung, West Java.
Bio Farma, which manufactures vaccines for various diseases, such as polio, diphtheria, meningitis, influenza, and measles, is among the top five vaccine producers in the world. “And the latest [vaccine product] we are officially announcing today is a Covid vaccine. We have named it IndoVac," the President added.
Jokowi said this year’s production capacity for IndoVac was approximately 20 million doses. "Earlier, the [Bio Farma] president director said that it could [produce] 40 million [doses] next year and if the market still demanded it, this could be up to 120 million vaccine doses," he said.
The President then called on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir and Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin to continue to support Bio Farma, "so it can generate greater revenue for the country while we become nondependent [and] truly self-sufficient in vaccines," said Jokowi, who later formally launched the IndoVac vaccine.
Presenting his report, SOEs Minister Erick Thohir said developing the IndoVac vaccine was the first step in the effort to produce local pharmaceutical brands.
We are the global production hub of the vaccine.
“We are continuing to pursue collaborations, as we did yesterday in signing [an agreement] with ProFactor [Pharma] in the United Kingdom. So, similar to what we are doing today, we are cooperating with [ProFactor Pharma] in R&D [research and development], with us granted the license to produce our own brands," he added.
Erick said Indonesia needed to be a step ahead to anticipate the possible emergence of another pandemic or the outbreak of an endemic disease. “With ProFactor, we signed [a deal] for the hemophilia vaccine, which is blood viscosity. We are the global production hub of the vaccine. ProFactor distributes [the vaccine] to Europe and America, while Indonesia [distributes it] to Asia, Africa and elsewhere," he said.
MACHRADIN WAHYUDI RITONGA
An officer shows a dose of Indovac Vaccine at the PT Bio Farma Office, Bandung City, West Java, Thursday (13/10/2022).
Vaccine independence
PT Bio Farma president director Honesti Basyir said Indonesia was becoming self-sufficient in vaccine development and production with IndoVac catering to the domestic need for Covid-19 vaccines. Bio Farma aimed to distribute 6.9 million doses of IndoVac across the country by the end of this year.
"Indonesia will no longer import Covid-19 vaccines. We will entirely use the domestically produced vaccine, which is IndoVac from Bio Farma," he said.
Honesti expressed his confidence that IndoVac could reach 80 percent efficacy, based on the results of a clinical trial involving 4,050 volunteers who had experienced very mild effects after vaccination.
“From the outset, we designed this vaccine to be safe, highly effective, good quality and halal. We have received [certification] from the BPOM and the Religious Affairs Ministry," he said, referring to the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency.
In addition to meeting domestic needs, Bio Farma was also looking to export IndoVac to potential markets that included Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. According to Honesti, the company could produce up to 120 million doses of IndoVac per year. He said, however, that distribution would be adjusted to meet demand.
The IndoVac vaccine was developed in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. The vaccine was developed by incorporating a recombinant protein subunit into the active substance of the recombinant receptor-binding domain (RBD) derived from the S protein of SARS-CoV-2.
The vaccine was granted emergency use authorization (EUA) from the BPOM on 24 Sept. alongside the AWcorna mRNA Covid-19 vaccine produced by PT Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia. IndoVac also obtained halal certification from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).
