ITB, Danantara and Indofarma Partner to Develop Indonesia’s Natural Pharmaceutical Ingredients
Bandung (ANTARA) – The Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), PT Danantara Development Management Fund (DDMF), state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Indofarma and PT EBM Scientific and Technology have agreed to develop and commercialise research into Indonesian natural products as domestic pharmaceutical ingredients.
ITB Rector Tatacipta Dirgantara said the agreement, formalised through a memorandum of understanding signed in Jakarta, was intended to reduce the domestic pharmaceutical industry’s dependence on imported drug ingredients.
“This four-party collaboration is designed to maximise the potential of Indonesia’s rich biodiversity and systematically turn it into high-value products, including pharmaceutical ingredients, natural medicines, health supplements and medical biotechnology products,” Tatacipta said in an ITB statement in Bandung on Wednesday.
Under the collaboration, ITB will contribute its research capabilities in natural products, pharmacy, biotechnology and process engineering. PT EBM Scientific and Technology, an ITB research-based spin-off, will act as a bridge between academic innovation and commercial industrialisation.
One of EBM’s leading downstream products is MarkHerb, a standard marker compound used to standardise and quality-control herbal products. It is already widely used by various industries and research institutions.
Financial support and strategic investment schemes will be coordinated through PT Danantara DDMF, while Indofarma will take primary responsibility for absorbing, mass-producing and distributing the pharmaceutical products in domestic and global markets.
The comprehensive cooperation covers research and development of natural-product extracts and their derivatives; downstream development and commercialisation of research; joint scientific publications; use of research technologies; human-resource development; and exploration of innovation-funding schemes.
In addition to developing downstream products and scaling up production, the partnership will support links with higher education, including student internships, final-year projects and integrated technical training involving academics and pharmaceutical-industry practitioners.
“This strategic partnership is expected to be a key catalyst for achieving national health sovereignty through the use of competitive research produced by Indonesians,” Tatacipta said.