Indonesia-Sinovac Cooperation Continues for Development of mRNA-Based Vaccine

Jakarta: Indonesia’s cooperation with vaccine producer Sinovac continues for development of the COVID-19 vaccine with messenger RNA (mRNA) platform, People’s Health Directorate General Secretary at the Health Ministry Siti Nadia Tarmizi stated.
 
“Indonesia has been cooperating with Sinovac from the start and will certainly continue it in accordance with the policy to increase the hubs for vaccination,” she noted here on Wednesday.
 
According to Tarmizi, the cooperation is necessary to support Indonesia’s role as a COVID-19 vaccination center in the ASEAN region.

Thus far, China has exported 16 batches of Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, with a total of 6.4 million ready-to-use vaccines and 115.5 million semi-finished vaccines to Indonesia.
 
“In future, the (cooperation) with Sinovac will be directed toward the development of the mRNA-based vaccine and also inactivated virus vaccine,” she stated.
 
The mRNA platform differs with vaccines that generally contain disease-causing virus or germs that had been weakened or deactivated.
 
The mRNA vaccine utilizes new technology in the form of genetic material components engineered to resemble certain germs or virus.
 
This cooperation is implemented through technology transfer to develop the joint research center in Indonesia.
 
Sinovac’s support is an implementation of strategic partnership between Indonesia and China, especially to unitedly handle challenges arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Tarmizi expects that Indonesia’s role, as a vaccination center in the ASEAN region, can realize vaccine access equality for all countries.
 
The World Health Organization (WHO) had entrusted Indonesia to become the center of COVID-19 vaccine production for Southeast Asia. State-owned Pharmaceutical Company PT Bio Farma (Persero) became the Indonesian company that will produce the mRNA vaccine.
 
President Director of PT Bio Farma Honesti Basyir noted that the company’s research team was involved in the third phase of clinical trial for the Sinovac vaccine in 2020.
 
This experience is currently being applied in the domestic vaccine development process.
 

(WAH)