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Indonesia is edging closer to becoming a global vaccine hub
Indonesia is edging closer to becoming a vaccine hub, as a number of locally developed COVID-19 vaccines enter advanced stages of clinical trials and are expected to be mass-produced in the next few months.
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A woman (left) reacts while receiving a Pfizer booster vaccine for COVID-19 in Jakarta, on March 29. The government accelerated its vaccination programs ahead of Idul Fitri in May when many were expected to leave the capital to return to their hometowns. (AFP/Adek Berry)
I
ndonesia is edging closer to becoming a vaccine hub, as a number of locally developed COVID-19 vaccines enter the advanced stages of clinical trials and are expected to be mass-produced in the next few months.
State-run pharmaceutical firm Bio Farma started on Thursday the phase III clinical trials of a locally made COVID-19 vaccine candidate called the State-owned Enterprises (BUMN) vaccine. It is in the last stage of clinical testing in humans, during which the vaccine is given to thousands of people to confirm and expand the results on its safety and efficacy from phase I and II trials.
The development of the BUMN vaccine started in June of last year in cooperation with Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, the United States. The vaccine candidate, which uses a piece of the coronavirus spike protein called the receptor binding domain as its platform, was first tested on humans in December of last year.
Bio Farma has recruited 4,050 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 70 for the phase III clinical trials. The trials are being conducted in four universities across the country: the University of Indonesia (UI) in West Java, Diponegoro University in Central Java, Andalas University in West Sumatra and Hasanuddin University in South Sulawesi.
If the trials are successful, the company seeks to obtain emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) by next month and start production right away.
Read also: Indonesia starts testing homegrown COVID-19 vaccine on humans
Aside from the BUMN vaccine candidate, a research team from Airlangga University in East Java, in cooperation with local firm Biotis Pharmaceuticals Indonesia, has also recently finished the second round of clinical trials for another homegrown vaccine candidate called the Merah Putih vaccine. It is named after the color of Indonesia's red-and-white flag.
