VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The drug for handling COVID-19, concocted by the pharmaceutical state-owned company (BUMN) holding, namely PT Kimia Farma Tbk and PT Indofarma, is ready to be used to accelerate the response to the pandemic in the country.

PT Kimia Farma Tbk is currently able to produce a drug for handling COVID-19, namely Favipiravir which can be used for COVID-19 therapy, said Bio Farma's public relations press release received in Bandung, Monday.

Meanwhile PT Indofarma Tbk is ready to market the anti-Corona drug Remdesivir under the trade name Desrem and this drug is produced by Mylan Laboratories Limited, under license from Gilead Sciences Inc, Foster City and the United States of America.

Apart from Favipivar, PT Kimia Farma Tbk, and its subsidiary, PT Phapros, Tbk, have also succeeded in producing several drugs for handling COVID-19, including Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, Favipiravir, Dexamethasone and Methylprednisolone.

"Kimia Farma also produces several multivitamins that increase immunity, such as Vitamin C (tablets and injection), Becefort, Fituno and Geriavita as additional products to maintain endurance," said Verdi Budidarmo, President Director of PT Kimia Farma Tbk, in the press release.

Verdi Budidarmo added that Kimia Farma can produce the Favipiravir drug, and it's the first product in Indonesia that was developed by BUMN and has obtained a Circular Permit Number (NIE) from the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) and will be distributed to all health services under government regulations.

Besides medicines and multivitamins, PT Kimia Farma Tbk through its retail network also distributes medical devices such as masks, hand sanitizers and performs inspection services, namely rapid tests or rapid tests produced by PT Kimia Farma Tbk itself and swab tests or PCR tests throughout the network.

PT Kimia Farma Tbk's healthcare services spread throughout Indonesia. Meanwhile, another member of the BUMN Pharmacy Holding, PT Indofarma Tbk, and its entire business group (“the Company”) supports the Government's efforts in suppressing the spread of COVID-19 in the country through various types of products including Oseltamivir 75vgr Caps which is the current leading antiviral has become a reference as a COVID-19 treatment protocol in various hospitals.

Oseltamivir 75 gr Caps is a product that has a Domestic Content Level certificate of 40.06 percent, which has been produced by PT Indofarma, Tbk with a production capacity of 4.9 million Capsules per month, so it is expected to meet the needs of the Indonesian people.

Another product for handling COVID-19 is Desrem ™ Remdesivir Inj 100 mg, which is an antiviral product produced by Mylan Laboratories Ltd, which will be marketed by PT Indofarma Tbk, in the near future.

President Director of Indofarma Arief Pramuhanto said that the product they will market soon is Desrem ™ Remdesivir Inj 100mg, which has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) approval in Indonesia and has been approved by BPOM through the Marketing Permit Number on Sep. 30, 2020.

Arief said Desrem ™ Remdesivir Inj 100mg will go on sale next week, to be used for inpatients with COVID-19 in moderate-to-severe conditions. The availability of stock for this month is around 400,000 vials at prices affordable for the public.

Arief Pramuhanto added that besides medicine, PT Indofarma Tbk has also produced medical devices such as 3Play Medical Face Mask (Inamask), Hand Sanitizer (Clind), Rapid Test (Smart Diagnostic Covid19) to Mobile Diagnostic Real-Time PCR, Isolation Transport Products to Transport Media Virus (VTM).

Meanwhile, Bio Farma has procured the COVID-19 vaccine, which results from collaboration with Sinovac, which is still in the clinical trial stage in Bandung.

As of the end of September 2020, there were 1319 volunteers who had received the first injection, 656 volunteers had received the second injection, and 244 volunteers were taking blood after the second injection.

Until now, there have been no reports of serious post-immunization follow-up events (AEFI) due to vaccines or vaccinations. (Antaranews)