Drug Raw Material Manufacturers Say There Are Parties Want To Thwart The Independence Of The National Pharmaceutical Industry

Chairman of the Association of Biofarmasi and Drug Baku Materials (AB3O) FX Sudirman. (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Association of Biopharmaceuticals and Drug Baku Materials (AB3O) said that there were parties who disagreed with Indonesia's efforts to increase the independence of the pharmaceutical industry, including medicinal raw materials (BBO) and domestic vaccines.

Chairman of the Association for Biofarmation and Drug Baku Materials (AB3O) FX Sudirman said, Indonesia has great potential for pharmaceutical independence, although it still needs to be developed in stages.

"Our goal to be independent who do not agree is the perpetrators of multinational companies. But in my opinion, we don't need to be afraid, where there is a will, there will be a way," said Sudirman in the National Seminar agenda entitled 'Resilience and Continuity in Accelerating Independence of Drug and Vaccine Raw Materials at Grand Sahid Hotel, Jakarta, Tuesday, September 10.

Sudirman said that the national pharmaceutical industry's great potential was also mentioned by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in an investment forum in Bali some time ago.

To date, there have only been 11 domestic BBO factories, 50 major pharmaceutical raw materials traders, 237 industries, 2,500 pharmaceutical wholesalers, 40,000 health facilities and 281 million patients.

"If the total economy is large enough, maybe it could reach 11 billion US dollars per year. The market share is worth it to be taken, attacked or acquired by other countries," he said.

In addition, Sudirman highlighted Indonesia's homework (PR) to increase the position of health resilience, which is currently still ranked 85 countries out of 195 countries in readiness to face global health threats, based on the Global Health Security Index.

"This means that the Indonesian health system sector still needs to improve its ability in terms of the availability of pharmaceutical drugs and BBOs. It's not easy because this is a big challenge for Indonesia," he said.

Moreover, the BBO industry is a newly developed industrial or industrial influence in Indonesia and has not chosen the ability to compete with more mature industries, especially global players.

On the other hand, he said, Indonesia is still dependent on imports of BBO by 90 percent.

In fact, for semi-finished or intermediate products 100 percent are still imported from China.

Sudirman also highlighted the unintegrated Research & Development (R&D) ecosystem.

Some business actors are also said to be still involved with complex regulations.

In this case, the certification process is often long and complicated so that it becomes an obstacle for industrial growth.

"Indonesia since the issuance of Presidential Instruction Number 6 of 2016, there have been a lot of incentives for the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. However, not many can enjoy it. For example, tax holidays, super tax deductions, then other fiscal incentives can't be used because they are too complicated," he added.