Kimia Farma Targets Remdesivir COVID-19 Patient Therapy Drugs For Distribution In September 2021

JAKARTA - PT Kimia Farma President Director Verdi Budidarmo said that the therapeutic drug for COVID-19 patients, the Remdesivir type, is targeted to be on the market starting September 2021.

"The challenge for remdesivir injection going forward is that the patent rights are still owned by pharmaceutical companies in the United States," he said at a hearing (RDP) with Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives, reported by Antara, Wednesday, July 7.

Verdi said that the acceleration of the procurement of remdesivir in finished form in Indonesia through imports from India was still constrained by the regional quarantine situation in the producing country.

Of the seven pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia, he said, currently all of them still rely on imports of COVID-19 therapeutic drug products from India.

Efforts to produce Remdesivir domestically were started by national pharmaceutical companies in coordination with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) through the Director General of Intellectual Property, said Verdi.

Verdi hopes that the fulfillment of injection Remdesivir products for domestic needs can be launched starting in September 2021.

"We hope to launch it in September 2021. If it doesn't exist now," he said.