Bio Farma: 80 Percent IndoVac Vaccine Use Domestic Components

The IndoVac vaccine is produced by Bio Farma. (ANTARA/HO Bio Farma).

JAKARTA - BUMN company PT Bio Farma (Persero) utilizes 80 percent of the domestic component level (TKDN) to produce the COVID-19 vaccine IndoVac. "The IndoVac vaccine TKDN is based on self-assessment of approximately 80 percent," said PT Bio Farma President Director Honesti Basyir in a written statement received in Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, September 8. Another privilege from IndoVac is compared to other COVID-19 vaccines, because they were developed and produced from upstream to downstream by the nation's children, namely Bio Farma, which is a government-owned company in the health sector. "The COVID-19 vaccine of BUMN by Bio Farma, which has a TKDN of almost 80 percent, is a step towards the independence of the health sector," he said. With such a large TKDN, Honesti hopes to reduce Indonesia's dependence on imported vaccines. In the end, it will have a positive impact on saving state foreign exchange. "The high TKDN also has a positive impact on the Indonesian economy, due to the absorption of local workers, the use of local raw materials, with research and development (R&D) for the nation's children," he said. Even in the long term, said Honesti, the vaccine export market is also the destination of Bio Farma. < Not only for domestic needs, IndoVac is also used for global market supply. IndoVac's export opportunities are wide open," he said. Honesti said Bio Farma had registered an emergency use listing (EUL) with the World Health Organization (WHO) so that it could be used in other countries through the Covax Facility (multilateral) support mechanism. "Through the Covid-19 vaccine, Bio Farma hopes to contribute to supporting world health, not only in Indonesia," he said. Based on the statement by the Head of BPOM RI Penny K. Lukito during a hearing with Commission IX of the DPR RI (30/9), the EUA IndoVac will be released around mid-September 2022. At the same time, Bio Farma also proposed a halal certification of IndoVac to ensure the security of the Indonesian people and has passed an audit of the halal aspect of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Study Institute of the Indonesian Ulema Council (LPPOM MUI). After obtaining permission, Bio Farma has prepared the next stage, namely producing the Inovac vaccine. For the initial stage, Bio Farma produces a maximum of 20 million doses. This amount can be increased to 40 million doses per year in 2023 with the addition of production facilities. Furthermore, production capacity can be increased to 100 million doses per year in 2024 depending on needs and demand.