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tate-owned pharmaceutical firm PT Indofarma plans to start producing albumin locally this year and to manufacture generic cancer drugs in Indonesia in 2014.

Until now, albumin in Indonesia has come from abroad although demand for the product continues to increase, according to Indofarma president director Elfiano Rizaldi. '€œAlbumin consumption can reach about Rp 100 billion [US$10.27 million] a year,'€ he said in Jakarta on Monday.

Albumin is a water-soluble protein that occurs in human blood plasma or serum. It is commonly used to replace and restore fluid and blood during surgery, in burn victims and trauma cases.

Indofarma will collaborate with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), as it is the institution authorized to collect blood from the public, and a private partner. Elfiano said it would also partner with a European firm but declined to specify the name, adding that he expected the partnership agreement to be finalized soon so production could begin
this year.

When produced locally, the price of albumin could be 60 percent lower than that of the imported kind, according to Elfiano. The price of 100 milliliters of albumin currently ranges from Rp 900,000 to more than Rp 1 million.

Besides albumin, publicly listed Indofarma also plans to partner with a foreign firm to manufacture generic cancer drugs in Indonesia next year. The future partner would most likely be from China or India, Elfiano said, citing both countries'€™ advanced cancer research. No detailed information has been released regarding the plan.

Indofarma is also looking to expand its international network by exporting its generic drugs to Cambodia and Myanmar within the next two years. The company is in the process of acquiring legal permits from the countries'€™ food and drugs agencies. As of now, exports '€” which cover Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia '€” only make up for a small portion of Indofarma'€™s business portfolio, amounting to 2.8 percent of its total revenues.

Meanwhile, the company attributed the government'€™s health project delays to its revenues decline during the first quarter of 2013. Revenues dropped 26.9 percent to Rp 123.45 billion. According to Elfiano, the projects, which focus on generic drug provisions, should have started between February and March. However, due to a system change, they only began in late March.

Its latest financial report shows that Indofarma suffered Rp 3.74 billion in other losses, which led to Rp 10.96 billion in net losses during the first three months, compared to Rp 140.19 million in net profits booked in the same period last year.

The company expects to gain Rp 1.5 trillion in revenues by year'€™s end, up 29.7 percent from 2012. Its net profits target has been set at Rp 82.5 billion, growing by almost double.

By March 2013, the company'€™s total assets amounted to Rp 1.09 trillion. Its liabilities reached Rp 449.86 billion and its equities stood at Rp 639.14 billion.

Elfiano said he was optimistic about Indofarma reaching the target, supported by the recent government projects it acquired. '€œWe secured contracts worth Rp 1.6 trillion for the generic drug provisions this year and have obtained around Rp 100 billion to Rp 150 billion worth of drug demands between April and May,'€ he added.

To support its operations, Indofarma will build a new factory to increase production capacity by more than two times to reach four to five billions tablets and capsules this year. Indofarma production director Kosasih said that capacity would be boosted to six billion tablets and capsules in 2014 to anticipate the implementation of the national healthcare system under the Social Security Providers (BPJS) Law. The system is expected to insure around 121.6 million people as of Jan. 1, 2014.

Indofarma'€™s shares closed at Rp 290 on Monday, rising 7.4 percent from last Friday.