BANDUNG, INDONESIA, Sep 29, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) -  PT Bio Farma (Persero), the holding company for pharmaceutical state-owned companies in Indonesia, to export its novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) after it secured purchasing contracts with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for this and next year.

(Image: PT Bio Farma)

(Image: PT Bio Farma)
Under the contract, Bio Farma will export its polio vaccines, based on requests from UNICEF, for the fiscal year 2022 and 2023 through multilateral schemes.

The Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir had previously said that in line with the theme of the G20 Indonesia's presidency, "Recover Together, Recover Stronger", it is important for the Indonesian state-owned enterprises to lead through concrete actions that are realized through various strategic initiatives and large-scale transformations to create global impacts.

Honesti Basyir, the President Director of Bio Farma said the company will export the nOPV2 after it secured purchasing contracts from UNICEF for fiscal year 2022 and 2023.

"UNICEF is buying the nOPV2 via multilateral means. The nOPV2 is part of the efforts to prevent the spread of polio disease in the world. Bio Farma's success to export the nOPV2 means we have contributed to the global health industry, as we are able to provide stockpiles (of vaccines) for the world's needs," Honesti said.

He explains the contract scheme, in which UNICEF sends a purchase order to Bio Farma and the Indonesian company will ship the vaccine to the targeted market.

"For example, UNICEF sends a purchase order to send (nOPV2) to Nigeria, then Bio Farma to distribute it directly to that country," Honesti said.

The Indonesian pharmaceutical company's contribution to the supply of polio vaccine in the world is expected to strengthen the company's vision to become a world-class Life Science company that can improve the quality of life for all people in the world.

Bio Farma, which has run its operations for more than 130 years, has received a number of acknowledgements from the international community for various of its services and products. For information, the company's manufactured nOPV2 has obtained the Emergency Use of Authorization (EUA) from the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (BPOM).

The vaccine has also obtained the Emergency Use of Listing from the World Health Organization. The EUL, released by the WHO, is a procedure for assessing and listing vaccines during public health emergencies such as during disease outbreaks/the pandemics by non-vaccine-producing countries.

Honesti explains that Bio Farma's nOPV2 vaccines have been distributed to a number of countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, because Indonesia is already a polio-free country since 2014.

Countries in Africa that use Bio Farma's nOPV2 are Algeria, Cameroon, Kongo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda. In Europe, the vaccine is used in Israel and Ukraine, and in the Middle East, the vaccine is consumed in Egypt, Iran, Somalia and Yemen.

According to Honesti, nOpV2 vaccine is a result of collaboration between Bio Farma and some international research institute, including Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), PATH, and the WHO.

Apart from supplying 67 percent of the world demand for polio vaccine, Bio Farma's laboratories have become the reference for sampling polio vaccines in the world.

IN LINE WITH THE G20

Honesti said Bio Farma's contribution to provide polio vaccine is in line with one of the priority issues discussed in the G20 Forum under Indonesia's Presidency. The forum to discuss the roadmap for the global health industry in the G20 high level conference on November 15-16, 2022 in Bali.

Through Indonesia's presidency in G20, the country plans to showcase its success in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and how it can maintain the public health and steady economic growth through vaccination. PT Bio Farma has been one of the front liners in the government-initiated vaccination program.

One of the achievements under Indonesia's presidency in the G20 forum is a deal to wrap up the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF), which has collected up to $1.4 billion worth of funds to help prevent future pandemics.

Regarding polio handling, the world previously waited for the success of two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, before a "polio-free world" could be declared. However, during the wait, polio outbreaks occurred in some countries in Africa and the Middle East. Health authorities in the United States even announced surprising findings of polio viruses in a sample of wastewater in New York City.

The polio virus found is known to have different strains from the previous known virus. This makes the nOPV2 vaccine important to prevent any potential polio disease spread in the world.

Bio Farma has affirmed itself as a world class vaccine manufacturer. The company went through a successful transfer technology process from Japan through Japan Polio Research Institute in the 1990s.

Apart from producing nOPV2 vaccine, which has obtained EUA from BPOM and EUL from the WHO, Bio Farma announced it is ready to produce Covid-19 vaccines through its brand called IndoVac.

The company plans to distribute the vaccine massively after securing the EUA from the regulator. Currently, the company is in the process of securing halal certification from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and in the process of registering the EUL to the WHO for its IndoVac vaccine. Bio Farma aims to make IndoVac contribute positively in reducing Covid-19 spread in the world, similar to what it has done to help reduce polio spread.

About Bio Farma

PT Bio Farma (Persero) is the largest pharmaceutical holding company in Indonesia, which offer end-to-end services in the health industry, starting from the pharmaceutical-related research and development, manufacturing, distribution to the operation of pharmacy, health clinics to clinical laboratories.

Bio Farma's headquarter is sitting on a 91,058 square meter of land in Bandung, West Jawa, which comprises office buildings and factory facilities. The company also operates a representative office in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital city.

Bio Farma is capable of producing more than 3.2 billion doses of vaccines per year. The company has exported its vaccine products to more than 150 countries in the world. Bio Farma became a holding company after a merger of three listed state-owned pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia.

Three companies PT Bio Farma (Persero), PT Kimia Farma Tbk (KAEF), PT Indofarma Tbk (INAF), merged into Bio Farma today. For further information, please visit www.biofarma.co.id

Media Contact:
R. Rifa Herdian
PT Bio Farma (Persero)
Corporate Secretary & Investor Relations
Tel: +62-81-2542-8844
Email: rifaherdian@biofarma.co.id

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