BPOM Achieves WHO Listed Authority Status; Bio Farma to Optimise This Opportunity

Jakarta – PT Bio Farma (Persero) has welcomed the WHO Listed Authority (WLA) status awarded to Indonesia’s BPOM (Food and Drug Authority) by the World Health Organization. The WLA status is expected to open significantly larger business opportunities for Bio Farma in the future.

Bio Farma’s Chief Executive Officer Shadiq Akasya stated that the WLA status obtained by BPOM will enable Bio Farma to maximise the development of new health products. With the WLA designation, Bio Farma’s products will gain greater credibility with the company’s partner nations.

Beyond new product development, Bio Farma is positioned to optimise clinical trial services. Clinical trials represent an experimental process conducted before health products are registered and marketed commercially, occurring after preclinical testing phases.

Bio Farma already possesses competent clinical testing facilities ready for use by global companies under BPOM supervision, spanning from preclinical testing through clinical trials to registration.

“This represents an opportunity because Bio Farma already possesses these facilities and competencies. This means that companies wishing to conduct clinical trials in Indonesia can do so through Bio Farma,” Shadiq stated at the Health Forum titled “BPOM Achieves WLA Status: What Benefits for Business Players?” on Monday 2 March 2026.

Shadiq also noted that BPOM’s WLA status can facilitate exports of Indonesian-manufactured polio vaccines. He explained that global demand for polio vaccines is influenced by national immunisation programmes in each country.

Bio Farma must therefore identify nations with high population figures to supply polio vaccines to those destinations. Additionally, Bio Farma will consider each nation’s birth rates when strengthening polio vaccine exports.

“For instance, African nations represent potential markets for us. Nigeria has a substantial population. Pakistan currently has 240 million people, but with an annual birth rate of 5.9 million infants, which exceeds Indonesia’s rate,” he noted.

Currently, Bio Farma distributes vaccines through institutions including UNICEF, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi), as well as through bilateral agreements with target export nations.