Meanwhile, the shortage of lab workers capable of running the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has hindered mass testing efforts in the country.

To address this problem, homegrown biotech start-up Nusantics created a COVID-19 test kit from available samples, not long after the company announced its seed funding from East Ventures in March. Since May, the company, which specializes in genomics technology for skin, has distributed the kits across the country.

The Jakarta Post’s Eisya A. Eloksari interviewed the start-up cofounder and CEO Sharlini Eriza Putri on May 29 to learn more about the company’s experience in producing the test kits, how the pandemic has affected the company’s business and ultimately and the future of microbiomes in the beauty industry.

Question: What does Nusantics do and what is its vision?

Answer: We are a microbiome-technology company that runs diagnoses for the presence and condition of microbiomes for our customers.

The human body is an ecosystem for microbiomes; the bacteria, fungi and viruses that live in and on our body, from our hair to our intestines. As of now, we do a facial swab test to assess the skin’s microbiome diversity score. The more diverse it is, the healthier the skin, while lower diversity may lead to skin problems such as acne and psoriasis.

Nusantics decided to introduce the technology to the beauty industry first, because it was one of the up-and-coming sectors with promising growth.

Our goal is to make microbiome technology relevant in Indonesia, as well as changing the mindset that clean does not always mean sterile. Many bacteria, fungi and viruses are needed in our body to increase immunity.

How did Nusantics become involved in producing the COVID-19 test kit?

We volunteered to make the COVID-19 test kit prototype because in the first months of the outbreak, it was difficult for people to get tested for the virus with the lack of test kits available.

We reached out to several government bodies, and among those, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) responded to our proposal. After doing the due diligence, we were asked to become part of its COVID-19 task force for research and technological innovation (TFRIC19).

How did you manage to shift the company’s business from beauty to medical diagnosis?

The pivoting process was relatively easy because the technology that we use for skin microbiome diagnosis also includes detecting viruses. In addition, some of our team members have a background in medical diagnosis, so we had the technological capabilities and expertise to create the test kit model.

In fact, conducting a full skin diagnosis is more complex than detecting the COVID-19 virus, because with the latter, we only need to detect the presence of a single virus while a skin diagnosis requires us to detect millions of species and it can take up to three weeks to complete.

The biggest challenge was in mass producing the test kits because we had to import most of the raw materials such as amino acids at a time when they were in high demand globally.

How has the pandemic affected Nusantics’ core business?

We had to postpone our grand launch, which should have been in February and move it until the end of the PSBB.

People are staying indoors so they cannot come to our facility for facial swabs. We have been developing an at-home facial swab kit but we have yet to go fully commercial with it because we are still focusing on the COVID-19 test kit and we also want customers to experience our service.

What is your strategy in competing with local and international brands with a similar approach in the beauty industry?

Nusantics is the first and only company of its kind in Indonesia. I believe Japan and France have similar technology for commercial use as well, but they focus on creating skincare products.

Meanwhile, we focus on helping our customers diagnose their skin and not on personalized skincare. We do offer them products when necessary, but we are not claiming that those products can work for everyone.

Our strategy is to mainstream the importance and relevance of microbiome knowledge. Especially during the pandemic, we realize that small things such as a virus can have a huge impact on our lives.

Secondly, we want to continue being authentic and let our customers know that what we do is not a gimmick by using science to simply sell products that might not even work for everyone.   

In your opinion, what will be the new normal in the beauty industry post-pandemic?

I think skincare regimes will become simpler as people will save money and not buy as many beauty products as they used to. I believe people will realize that the key to a healthy life is actually to live simply.

Skin microbiome technology will also become the new normal especially after the pandemic and more people are concerned about their microbiome diversity and balance.

People will become mindful of their skin microbiome when using skincare and make-up, so they do not compromise their skin’s immunity. 

Lastly, what is Nusantics’ plan after tapping into the beauty industry?

We are planning to look into the gut microbiome because we want to explore ways to boost immunity through digestive health. We see this as a promising market.

The company is looking for investors while doing the research and development, and since the enforcement of the travel restrictions, it has become more difficult to contact our overseas research partners so things have been progressing slowly.

However, we are not setting a target for this plan. We are focusing on the beauty sector for now. 

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