Kalbe Farma opens first biotech factory
INDONESIA’S PT Kalbe Farma has inaugurated its first biotechnology-based drug factory in what has been hailed as a milestone in the local industry.
The publicly-listed pharmaceutical company invested 500 billion rupiah (US$35 million) to build the factory in Cikarang, West Java, and another 200 billion rupiah for research and development, including technology transfer.
“The inauguration of this drug ingredient and biological product factory is part of Kalbe's commitment to take the initiative and help create an integrated pharmaceutical industry,” Kalbe Farma president/director Vidjongtius said in his speech at the factory's inauguration ceremony earlier this week.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Health Minister Nila Moeloek, who also attended the event, say the factory marks significant progress for Indonesia's pharmaceutical industry.
Jokowi said after touring the factory that “Everything uses biotechnology and everything is automated with robotics. I think this is the kind of investment and technological innovation we need and a leap from chemical ingredients to biotechnological ones.”
“This is an extraordinary technological achievement,” Nila said.
The factory, which has a production capacity of 9 million units, has already started the production of erythropoietin (EPO), a protein that stimulates red blood cell production and is used in dialysis and other treatments.
Kalbe Farma also plans to produce insulin, cancer-treating monoclonal antibodies and three other drugs within five years.
