The Official IndoVac Vaccine Was Launched, Erick Thohir: From The Start I Was Sure That Bio Farma Could Produce A COVID-19 Vaccine

Minister of SOEs Erick Thohir. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of SOEs)

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir said the launch and initial injection of the IndoVac Vaccine is clear evidence of the government's seriousness in building national health resilience.

The launch and initial injection of the IndoVac Vaccine was carried out by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Bio Farma Building, Bandung, Thursday, October 13.

Erick said the BUMN vaccine with the name IndoVac or Indonesia Vaccine came directly from the number one person in Indonesia.

"It is remembered when reporting the development of the BUMN vaccine to the President during a visit to Korea some time ago. The IndoVac vaccine is the naming of the President, who today launched and appreciates vaccines with local raw materials, made by the nation's children," said Erick, in the launch and initial injection of the IndoVac Vaccine, at Bio Farma Building, Bandung, Thursday, October 13.

In addition to diplomacy abroad to get the COVID-19 vaccine two years ago, Erick also encouraged SOEs to also develop their own COVID-19 vaccine.

Erick has full confidence that SOEs are able to produce their own COVID-19 vaccines. You see, said Erick, Bio Farma as the holding company for pharmaceutical SOEs has long been known as one of the producers of vaccines for the world.

"Many don't know, BioFarma is the fifth largest vaccine producer in the world, producing three billion doses of vaccine exported to 153 countries. Therefore, from the start I was sure, the COVID-19 vaccine in Indonesia could be produced independently, without the need for imports," said Erick.

Erick said that health security together with energy and food security is very important for the Indonesian nation in the future, especially in the current era.

"In the midst of the current volatile conditions in the world, it is very important that Indonesia continues to be independent, even sovereign in filling its independence. As the President has witnessed today, how can we start producing the IndoVac vaccine, of course this is only the first step," said Erick. who submitted the report in front of the president.

Furthermore, Erick explained that IndoVac is the result of a collaboration between the pharmaceutical BUMN holding with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in the United States. It did not stop there, continued Erick, the pharmaceutical holding has also signed cooperation with the British pharmaceutical company Profactor Pharma, at the Indonesian Embassy in London, England, at the end of last month.

In this collaboration, said Erick, Bio Farma will receive exclusive rights to joint development of Recombinant Factor VIII (Profactor and Bio Farma) blood products globally.

"This is similar to what we did today, we are working with RND, but of course the license and brand are ours. Yesterday we signed the Hemophilian vaccine, namely blood viscosity. We are hub production for world vaccines, Profactor will distribute to Europe and America, Indonesia for Asia, Africa and others. This is an example of cooperation that we continue to push forward," continued Erick.

Erick said SOEs also continue to consolidate the national health ecosystem, including for the RnD (research and development) sector which is still lagging behind other countries. Erick assesses that RnD has an important role in developing the domestic health ecosystem.

"As you saw earlier, we also cooperate with the seeds of the vaccine with other countries, but the production of everything from us, the continued discovery, TKDN is up to 90 percent. This is what we hope that in the future RnD must be in Indonesia," said Erick.

In addition, Erick also continues to encourage manufacturing consolidation. He has assigned Kimia Farma to produce medicines so that they are more affordable for the community, and IndoFarma focuses on herbal development.

Erick said he was optimistic that mapping the focus in the pharmaceutical holding body would be able to reduce Indonesia's dependence on imports of raw materials, which today is still at 90 percent.

"Currently our distribution companies are also separated, this must be consolidated in order to be efficient and create a wider network," he said.

Reduce Vaccine Imports

Erick said, Bio Farma moved quickly to bring IndoVac as the pride of the nation's children's work. After the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) issued an Emergency Use Authorization (UAE) for the first and second doses of vaccination adults (18+) on September 24, 2022, Bio Farma also carried out IndoVac clinical trials for advanced vaccinations/boosters (boosters) from September 1 to early October 2022.

Erick said, currently Bio Farma is waiting for the EUA of the IndoVac vaccine for the booster which is expected to be published at the end of October 2022.

In addition, Bio Farma has also carried out clinical trials for children or adolescents aged 12-17 years starting October 6, 2022. This Pharmaceutical SOE holding expects the IndoVac UAE for child vaccination (12-17 years) to be obtained in early December 2022.

Erick said, with the issuance of the IndoVac EUA for adult primary vaccines, as well as readiness to become a booster vaccine and vaccination for ages 12-17 years is a clue that IndoVac has an important meaning for the independence of the health sector. IndoVac is the first COVID-19 vaccine produced by the nation's best sons and daughters.

"IndoVac can be used for COVID-19 vaccination both primary and adult booster as well as children aged 12-17 years. We are optimistic that IndoVac will be able to significantly reduce imports of COVID-19 vaccines, even in the future it can stop imports. This is the meaning of IndoVac's contribution to national health while strengthening the national economy," said Erick.