The Faculty of Medicine (FK) Diponegoro University (Undip) has just established a partnership with PT Bio Farma (Persero). This collaboration was marked by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Faculty of Medicine Undip, represented by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Undip, Prof. Dr. dr. Dwi Pudjonarko, M.Kes., Sp.S(K)., with PT Bio Farma, represented by the Director of Finance, Risk Management and Human Resources of PT Bio Farma, I.G.N Suharta Wijaya. The event was held on Thursday (09/06) at the Central Laboratory of the Diponegoro Hospital National (RSND) Undip Tembalang.
This event was attended by the Vice Rector IV for Research and Innovation, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Undip, the Deputy Deans of the Faculty of Medicine Undip, and all levels of officials within the Faculty of Medicine Undip. The committee also invited the President Director of PT Bio Farma along with the Board of Executives of PT Bio Farma, and the President Commissioner of PT Bio Farma, Tanri Abeng. The signing of the collaboration between the Faculty of Medicine Undip and PT Bio Farma regarding the clinical trial phase III of the Sars-Cov-2 Recombinant Protein Subunit Vaccine.
In his remarks, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Undip, Prof. Dr. dr. Dwi Pudjonarko, M.Kes., Sp.S(K)., welcomed and expressed his gratitude for the cooperation that has been established with PT Bio Farma. “I thank PT Bio Farma for trusting us, the Faculty of Medicine Undip, to be involved in making a new history, namely the production of domestic vaccines from upstream to downstream process in Indonesia,” he said.
Prof. Dwi Pudjonarko hoped that this collaboration will initiate other collaborations and can continue to be expanded to other fields. “We hope that this cooperation will be further expanded. Earlier, I spoke with the Vice Rector IV for Research and Innovation, maybe later we can develop cooperation with PT Bio Farma and the other faculties besides the Faculty of Medicine can be involved in the upcoming project,” he explained.
“Hopefully this collaboration will expand so that other faculties can be involved in various activities. As a higher education institution, our concern is not just about science but how that knowledge is applied so that the benefits are felt directly by the community,” continued Prof. Dwi Pudjonarko.
Meanwhile, Director of Operations of PT Bio Farma, M. Rahman Roestan seemed enthusiastic about the cooperation that had been established and he hoped that the collaboration between FK Undip and PT Bio Farma could continue to be improved. “Today we signed a cooperation agreement that is not only about the Covid-19 Vaccine. Insyaallah in the future there will be many collaborations that we can do with further discussion with the Undip teams who have many other potential collaborations,” he explained.
“We also really hope that there will be collaboration from the Undip research team for the development of vaccines and medicine, which we can do together later, starting from research to the clinical trial stage,” continued Rahman Roestan.
Previously, researchers from the Faculty of Medicine Undip, dr. Yetty Movieta Nency, Sp.A(K)., is one of the researchers who is actively participating in the research and development of the BUMN Covid-19 Vaccine. The BUMN Covid-19 vaccine is the result of a global collaboration between PT Bio Farma and Baylor College of Medicine, USA, which has been registered in the WHO Covid-19 vaccine candidate development stage since June 2021.
The BUMN Covid-19 vaccine uses Recombinant Protein Subunit (protein Receptor Binding Domain / RBD) technology, which is made in Indonesia and will be used as a primary vaccine, after obtaining an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from BPOM at the end of July 2022. For now Today, the BUMN Covid-19 vaccine has entered a phase 3 clinical trial which was marked by a kick off on Thursday (09/06) at the Central Laboratory of the Diponegoro National Hospital (RSND) FK Undip and was attended by the Indonesian Minister of BUMN, Erick Thohir, the Vice Minister of Health, Dante Saksono Harbuwono, and Head of BPOM, Penny K Lukito.
