Use Of Kevzara And Actemra For COVID-19 Drugs In Indonesia Wait For Professional Organization Recommendations

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health is still waiting for recommendations from a number of professional organizations to use Kevzara and Actemra drugs for healing COVID-19 patients in Indonesia.

"We are waiting for recommendations from professional organizations whether Kevzara and Actemra can be used in Indonesia or not," said the Director of Prevention and Control of Direct Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi when confirmed by telephone in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Thursday, July 8.

According to Siti Nadia, input from a number of professional organizations such as the Indonesian Doctors Association, the Indonesian Pharmacists Association, the Association of Indonesian Pharmacists (PAFI), and other professional organizations is needed as a consideration for the government in deciding policies for the use of safe and quality drugs in the community.

Separately, Chairman of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and Economic Recovery of the Indonesian Pharmacists Association (IAI) Keri Lestari said Kevzara and Actemra are drugs that have received recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) for patients with a new type of coronavirus infection with severe symptoms.

"Yes, this drug is used for COVID-19 patients in the severe category. Recommendations for use in Indonesia are from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) and the Ministry of Health," she said explaining recommendations for the use of these drugs, including those from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes).

If permission to use the drug has been obtained in Indonesia, said Keri, the Ministry of Health will also regulate the Highest Retail Price (HET) for the use of the drug in health care facilities.

Actemra contains tocilizumab produced by Roche and Kevzara contains sarilumab from Sanofi, which is an arthritis medication that is given concurrently with corticosteroids.

WHO in a press release stated that the drug recommendations were issued based on 27 clinical trials involving more than 10,000 patients.

The results showed that the drug could reduce mortality in COVID-19 patients by up to 13 percent compared to the usual treatment without the drug.

This class of drugs is the second drug declared effective to treat COVID-19 after corticosteroids, which first received WHO recommendations in September 2020.