Ministry Of Health Disbursed Budget For Archipelago Vaccines Developed By Terawan

Former Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto (Photo: Ivan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has participated in financing the Nusantara Vaccine research developed by former Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto, especially for the first phase of clinical trials.

This vaccine was developed by Terawan since last year, or when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred.

"The answer is yes, we are the ones who pay for the phase I clinical trial (Nusantara vaccine, red)," said Head of the Health Research and Development Agency for the Ministry of Health, Slamet, in an online discussion, Friday, January 19.

However, Slamet did not specify how much budget was used by the Ministry of Health in financing the Nusantara Vaccine.

He only said, although the method of making vaccines is different from a number of other vaccine developers, the goal is the same, namely to improve healing and reduce the spread of COVID-19.

"The whole study is of course the same goal, is patient recovery but the grid is different, one is looking at the length of treatment, one looking at the increase in stamina and so on," he said.

On the same occasion, Head of the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) Penny Lukito said that his party was processing the results of research and development of Nusantara Vaccines.

This is because the BPOM has recently received the results of the first phase clinical trial of the vaccine.

Furthermore, BPOM will evaluate data from the results of the first phase clinical trial, before allowing for the next phase clinical trial.

"This is in progress. We have just received the results of the phase I clinical trial, so it is still being evaluated by the Registration Director Team from the BPOM with a team of experts to determine whether we immediately issue a protocol for phase II clinical trials because we have just received the first one," he said.

Previously reported, the Nusantara Vaccine was developed by Terawan since he served as Minister of Health before being replaced by Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

He said the results of the domestic vaccine clinical trial were going well. In fact, the vaccine is claimed to be personal and can be used by all groups, including those with comorbidities (comorbidities).

The vaccine is a collaboration between Dr. Kariadi Hospital and the Health Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Health, Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital, Aivita Biomedical and Diponegoro University to develop a COVID-19 vaccine with technology and dendritic cells.

"Of course, the generalized concept has to be changed to the concept of personality individual vaccination," said Terawan, quoted from Kompas TV, Wednesday, February 17.

In the process of making this Indonesian vaccine, said Terawan, it must go through an incubation process for approximately 7 days. Until later it will become an individual or personal vaccine.

"The point is that every time we have a dendritic cell, we only need to introduce the COVID-19 antigen so that it will have a dendritic cell memory against COVID-19," he said.

He also claims this vaccine will provide immunity for a long time. Because, this vaccine uses blood serum ingredients from each individual.