In there, everything is well-consolidated with the companies that have worked together to develop products, including Pfizer, GSK, and ModernaJakarta (ANTARA) - Collaboration becomes one of the important keys to ensure success in the development of domestic vaccines, Chief Transformation & Digital Officer at the State-Owned Vaccine Manufacturer Bio Farma Soleh Ayubi stated.
"It takes collaboration not just nationally but also internationally and support from all parties, including the government, regulations, and academicians," he noted.
Vaccine creation necessitates a long development period and expensive investment, he remarked during the Pharmacy and Health Device Industry Independence and Resilience National Forum at the Hotel Courtyard, Nusa Dua, Bali, on Wednesday.
For instance, the laboratory concept at Kendall Square becomes the research center for Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the United States.
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"In there, everything is well-consolidated with the companies that have worked together to develop products, including Pfizer, GSK, and Moderna," he stated.
He expects that Indonesia has a similar concept in developing start-ups and cooperating with various universities to expedite pharmacy and health device development.
"An example of this is Bio Saliva, which is a form of Bio Farma's cooperation with the start-up Bioteknologi Nusantics," he remarked.
Bio Saliva is a testing device to detect COVID-19 through gargling. This method is far less invasive to detect the COVID-19 virus in patients with or without symptoms.
Development of the product involves over 400 samples from COVID-19 positive patients, both outpatients and inpatients, and more than seven months of validation research.
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The validation test had been conducted along with the Medicine Faculty of Diponegoro University, Diponegoro National Hospital (RSND), and Doctor Kariadi Hospital (RSDK).
Moreover, Bio Farma invested US$20-100 million through the Bio Health Fund to finance research and development of several national and international start-ups in the health sector, Ayubi remarked.
"This needs support from the pharmacy industry to expedite the development of products to improve the independence of pharmacy and health devices," he remarked.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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