Apart from BBO, the MoU also encompasses the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the TB Platform Project.
The MoU was inked by President Director of Kimia Farma (KAEF) David Utama and President of Sinopharm International Zhou Song and witnessed by President Director of Biofarma Honesti Basyir and Chairman of Sinopharm Liu Jingzhen in Beijing, China, last March.
"With the signing of the MoU between KAEF and Sinopharm, this is certainly a good opportunity for the Biofarma Group to continue to maintain the resilience of the nation's health," President Director of Biofarma Honesti Basyir noted in a press release on Saturday.
This is in line with one of the main programs of the Ministry of Health of increasing the resilience of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, Basyir stated.
"One of the agendas to increase the resilience of the pharmaceutical sector is to increase the fulfillment of the need for Medicinal Raw Materials (BBO)/Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), chemical, biological products, and vaccines, domestically produced," he said.
The IndoVac vaccine produced by Bio Farma is one of the real results of the independence of the national pharmaceutical industry, with a Domestic Component Level (TKDN) of ninety percent, he stated.
President Director of KAEF, David Utama, remarked that the agreement is a continuation of the collaboration between Kimia Farma and Sinopharm that has been well-established during the handling of COVID-19.
"Kimia Farma supports national health resilience, one of them is by strengthening and accelerating (the development of) Medicinal Raw Materials (BBO). Currently, Kimia Farma has produced 14 BBO, and we will continue to increase it," Utama stated.
Furthermore, Utama said that this agreement is also emblematic of bilateral relations between the two countries to enhance and encourage transformation of the health industry.
Biofarma Group has established various global collaborations as an effort to increase national pharmaceutical health resilience.
"Currently, Biofarma Group's products and services have been used in more than 150 countries. Moreover, we have collaborated with various global companies," Basyir stated.
"These global companies include British Pharmaceutical Company, Profactor Pharma, for the development of blood product Recombinant Factor VIII; Bio Farma's collaboration with Google Cloud, Fitbit, and Connectedlife on new digital health initiatives; and collaboration with MSD to produce 4-valent vaccines for human papillomavirus (HPV) locally, as an effort to improve the quality of public health through synergy, innovation, and collaboration," Basyir stated.
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Translator: Ida Nurcahyani, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Sri Haryati
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