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Task force to expedite innovative medicines’ permits
The Health Ministry plans to establish a task force to push for the assessment of innovative medicines and vaccines as Indonesia becomes the country with lowest usage of new medicines for untreatable or difficult-to-treat conditions in the Asia-Pacific.
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Health matters: Health workers give medications to Indonesian migrant workers deported from Malaysia and undergoing rehabilitation in Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands, on Nov. 15. (Antara/Virna Puspa Setyorini)
T
he Health Ministry plans to form a task force to speed up permit issuance for innovative medicines, while urging the national drug administration to assess the drugs’ safety before approving them.
At the International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group (IPMG) Stakeholders Forum 2024 in Jakarta on Thursday, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin reasserted the government’s intention to provide the people with access to quality affordable medical services, including innovative medicines.
“Innovative medicines” refers to an approach to providing medication containing an active substance or combination of substances that have not yet been authorized for conditions previously deemed difficult to treat or untreatable.
“I realize that [the presence of] innovative medicines in Indonesia is very, very low,” Budi said at the event, “so I have asked the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency [BPOM] officials to make sure that we can simplify the procedures.”
“If you have any initiatives to bring these much needed medicines into the country, then you will receive government priority,” he continued.
As an effort to support such initiatives, the minister has deemed it necessary to form a dedicated task force to develop and coordinate the implementation of a national strategy for innovative medicines and vaccines.
He also called on the BPOM and other stakeholders to take necessary measures to expedite processes for innovative medicines and vaccines, such as by improving the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) process.
