By: Muhammad Zaki) *
In the midst of the covid-19 pandemic that is still happening, various academics working with the Government are continuing to compete to develop the virus vaccine. The community also continues to support various research and breakthroughs made by the Government to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19.
The Indonesian government is working on producing its own Covid-19 vaccine early next year, amid growing concerns that developing countries may have difficulty gaining access to vaccines in the future.
Ali Ghufron Mukti, Director General of Science, Technology and Higher Education Resources, Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education said that the production capacity and capacity of biotech companies in the world are limited and global supply chains also face challenges. Therefore, Indonesia needs to develop its own Covid-19 vaccine, and it will be carried out by Indonesia from Indonesia to Indonesia.
His party also uses theory and is optimistic that in 2021 and early 2021 this will be completed in the laboratory.
Mukti has also outlined ongoing efforts between local and foreign pharmaceutical companies to mass produce vaccines in Indonesia. The Covid-19 vaccine development team has been tasked with ensuring the availability of vaccines nationally in the next 12 months.
Bio Farma Director Honesti Basyir said that his party is working with Chinese vaccine company Sinovac which will enter its third phase of clinical trials in humans this month. If the trial is successful, it can start production in the first quarter of next year with a minimum dose of 100 million.
With a population of more than 265 million, Indonesia estimates that it will need more than 352 million injections of the two-dose vaccine.
Apart from Bio Farma and Sinovac, Mukti also said that the Indonesian private pharmaceutical company Kalbe Farma and the South Korean biotechnology company Genexine are working together to produce vaccines.
Currently, Indonesia has 2 options in developing the Covid-19 vaccine. The first option is to develop a red and white vaccine developed by the ministry of research and technology, the National Research and Innovation Agency and the Eijkman molecular biology institute.
Head of the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) Penny K Lukito explained that his party had made a roadmap for the stages of vaccine development needed to meet the preclinical, clinical and quality data requirements of the vaccines to be made.
Lukito explained. This stage of vaccine development is in accordance with the time we have planned with the acceleration and of course immediately meets the need for the national program.
The second option is to develop international cooperation. The first collaboration that has been under BPOM assistance is PT Sinovac and PT Biofarma. Then the second collaboration between Sinopharm and Kimia Farma with Group 42 from the United Arab Emirates and the third collaboration is Genexime with PT Kalbe Farma.
In the development of clinical trials for the collaboration between synovac and biopharma, it was started on August 11, 2020 by a team of researchers from Padjajaran University medicine and as many as 1,620 clinical trial subjects.
Currently, there are 1,800 volunteers who have registered and until the end of August 2020 there are around 500 directors who have received the injection stage.
BPOM is ready to oversee vaccine trials, starting from the approval of clinical trial protocols, implementation and evaluation of clinical trial results for emergency situations, as well as preparation of production facilities at Biofarma to transfer technology in turning vaccines into commercial products.
In the Sinopharm – G42 vaccine collaboration with the United Arab Emirates, an agreement has now been found. The UAE has also committed to providing 10 million vaccines for Indonesia. By the end of 2020 it is expected to be achieved.
BPOM itself has seen that the phase 3 vaccine clinical trial is carried out very well and is organized, there are many positive aspects with the participation of 22 thousand participants with various nationalities, there are 119 nationalities who have been involved in clinical trials.
After the phase 3 clinical trial of Sinopharm’s vaccine, it is possible for the Indonesian pharmaceutical industry to become part of the technology transfer for the vaccine production. Penny sees an opportunity for cooperation in the development of the vaccine industry between the UAE and Indonesia.
In the near future, an MoU will also be developed between BPOM and the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Health which will ensure speedy access to vaccines through a more targeted regulatory process that meets international standards.
With the discovery of a vaccine, of course this will further increase public optimism to rise from the Covid-19 pandemic. Of course we need to support these clinical trial efforts so that we can all return to normal lives without fear of transmission.
)* The author is active in the Cikini Press and Student Circle