Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar and Minister of Health Budi Gunadi are in the US hunting for COVID-19 drugs

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, and Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, are currently in the United States. The two ministers went to Uncle Sam's country to lobby the company Merck, the manufacturer of the antiviral drug Molnupiravir.

"Currently, I and the minister of health are in the United States to have a meeting with Merck regarding the drug Molnupiravir", Luhut said in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Monday, October 18.

Besides Molnupiravir, Indonesia is also currently testing the drug Proxalutamide. Clinical testing of the drug has now entered the third stage and is being processed by the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) in the country.

Not only that, but the government also has alternative therapeutic drugs for COVID-19 patients, namely AT527 produced by Roche and Atea Pharmaceuticals. These three drugs will potentially be used in Indonesia.

Even so, Luhut ensured that his presence with the Minister of Health Budi Gunadi not only lobbied for Indonesia to get its products but also to invest so that the drugs could be produced domestically.

"I can say that we don't want to just be buyers, we hope that the drug manufacturers will cooperate, invest and produce in Indonesia", said Luhut.

"We will meet them Wednesday in New York", he added.

Previously, Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government was continuing to monitor COVID-19 drugs that were being produced by several pharmaceutical companies in the world. This is done so that the product can treat patients and facilitate the transition from pandemic to endemic.

"So there are many promising developments of new types of drugs that give hope to deal with the pandemic and if we have completed the vaccines with medicines, we hope that the transition from pandemic to endemic will be faster", said Budi in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, on Monday, October 18th.

Several COVID-19 therapeutic drugs are currently being tested by the government. One of them is drugs that are categorized as monoclonal antibodies, namely Bamlanivimab and Etesevimab.

In addition, Budi said, the government is also exploring and studying new antiviral drugs that are considered promising, such as Merck's Molnupiravir, Atea Pharmaceuticals' AT527, and Kintor Pharmaceticals' Proxalutamide.