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Three RI biotech lecturers visit Pfizer factory in Belgium, learn global best practices
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Three Indonesian biotech lecturers, participating in the capacity-building program HigherHeight - Pfizer Biotech Fellowship 2022, pose for a photo during a visit to Pfizer's manufacturing facility in Puurs-Sint-Amands, Belgium, on April 27. (Courtesy of Pfizer Indonesia)
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hree selected Indonesian lecturers who participated in capacity-building program HigherHeight – Pfizer Biotech Fellowship 2022 visited a Pfizer manufacturing facility in Puurs-Sint-Amands, Belgium, in April, to enhance participants’ medical biotechnology knowledge as well as give them insight into Pfizer’s manufacturing practices and global supply chain.
The three researchers and lecturers joining the visit are Listya Utami Karmawan, chairwoman of the Indonesian Biotechnology Study Program Association and head of Atma Jaya Catholic University’s Biotechnology Program, Dwi Listyorini, lecturer at Malang State University’s biotechnology program, and Irvan Faizal, senior researcher at the National and Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and lecturer at Atma Jaya Catholic University’s biotechnology program.
During their visit, the lecturers were welcomed by the plant’s Aseptic Manufacturing director Yannick Ancaer and the local team in Puurs. The lecturers had a tour of the Puurs facility and engaged in several discussions, including on intellectual property protection in the world of scientific research and development.
Listya said the program would have an impact on the development of biotechnology in Indonesia. "As teaching staff and researchers are frontliners in creating the next generation of excellence, we really appreciate the opportunity to visit Pfizer’s biotechnology factory in Puurs, Belgium, as a program that widens the horizon, especially for curriculum development related to medical biotechnology in Indonesia."
Echoing the statement, Dwi Listyorini said, “We see the HigherHeight - Pfizer Biotech Fellowship as a platform for industry collaboration with universities that can encourage and inspire transformative research, development, assessment and implementation and innovation, as well as for further development of Biotechnology curriculum in our institution.”
On the same occasion, Faizal said, "Our visit to Pfizer's biotechnology factory has inspired us to redouble our efforts in refining and enhancing the quality of Indonesia's human capital in the biotechnology sector, and to leverage technology to catalyze transformative innovations that can advance public health.”
President director of Pfizer Indonesia, Nora T. Siagian, said separately, "We hope that the visit will be a platform to exchange knowledge between the educators and the experts that can inspire the lecturers to further advance medical biotechnology education in Indonesia."
Pfizer Puurs manufacturing site is one of the largest production and packaging sites among Pfizer’s global supply network, specializing in aseptic production and packaging. The Pfizer Puurs facility covers more than 100,000 square meters, and manufactures more than 400 million doses of injectable medicines and vaccines every year – excluding the COVID-19 volumes.
The product physiology ranges from sterile solutions, to sterile suspensions, sterile gels and freeze dry products are all packed on site in vials, ampoules, syringes, plastic bottles, cartridges or pens. Since the pandemic, Pfizer Puurs has become the heart of Pfizer’s COVID-19 response efforts globally, as it has supplied a few billion of doses of the PfizerBioNTech COVID- 19 vaccine to 175 markets around the world.
During the capacity-building program of 2022, researchers and lecturers received training and the opportunity to exchange ideas on various topics, ranging from advanced genomics, real-world data to vaccine supply chains with research institutes and the world-class health biotechnology industry.
The HigherHeight - Pfizer Biotech Fellowship was first held in 2021, attended by 125 students and teaching staff from 11 universities with biotechnology programs nationwide. In 2022, the program focused on the training of trainers for educators, and it was attended by 30 researchers and lecturers from 16 universities. Detailed information about the program can be found at higher-height.com
The HigherHeight - Pfizer Biotech Fellowship is a program aimed to accelerate the transformation of national health talents through training and capacity building for medical biotechnology educators and students in Indonesia. Last year, the theme of the program was Turbocharging Indonesia’s Medical Biotech Education, focusing on strengthen the capacity of medical biotechnology lecturers and researchers from 16 participating universities.
This article is written in partnership with Tenggara Strategics.
