Kalbe Farma Tbk PT : Develops Biosimilar Factory

Cikarang, 18 January 2017 - PT Kalbe Farma Tbk (Kalbe) today showed the progress of the biosimilar factory of PT Kalbio Global Medika which is located at Cikarang to the Chairperson of Food and Drugs Administration Body (BPOM), Dr. Ir. Penny K. Lukito, MCP.

The biosimilar factory that belongs to Kalbe's subsidiary will be producing biotechnology-based medicines. With it, the medicine and healthcare product factories that belong to Kalbe is numbered at 11 factories. At the same time, the Chairperson of BPOM and her entourage also visited the powdered milk factories of PT Sahngiang Perkasa and PT Kalbe Morinaga Indonesia in Cikampek.

'We hope Kalbe can provide larger contributions for the provision of quality medicines and healthcare products in advancing the public's health,' said Irawati Setiady, President Director of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk. 'Aside from innovating in the technological and production fields, Kalbe is committed to maintain the quality and safety of our products. We consistently apply quality management that follows national and international standards in all of our production process, therefore making our products safe for the consumption of the public.' Irawati added.

PT Kalbio Global Medika (KGM) is one of the subsidiaries of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk that is focused on biosimilar medication products. At present the biosimilar factory with the most advanced technology is preparing the CPOB certification from BPOM at the start of 2017.
For its initial production, KGM will manufacture Eritropoetin product that is crucial in dialysis and cancer medication. The product is geared to fulfill the domestic needs for starter to then be expanded for the ASEAN market. Aside of its ready-to-use product, PT Kalbio Global Medika also produces medicinal ingredients for Biological products in the purpose of supporting the government program of fulfilling medicinal ingredients that is domestically produced and much cheaper.
'In the operations of the biosimilar product, Kalbe is also preparing manpower who are competent by educating our younger workforce specifically using a collaboration with I3L (Indonesia International Institute for Life Science). This is also a part of Kalbe's efforts in developing Indonesian manpower to have more competencies in the healthcare fields,' said Sie Djohan, Director of Business Development of PT Kalbe Farma, Tbk.

At the same time, Irawati also said that the speeding up of permits, registration, and certifications from BPOM, both for the products or facilities, has been immensely supportive. 'This is also a part of the Roadmap for Indonesian Pharmaceutical Industry in order to support the growth of the domestic healthcare industries, and therefore will enable us to become stronger and be the host in our own home,' she added, of the umbrella of regulations, guidelines, and standards that are conducive, which are absolutely necessary to develop the pharmaceutical industry.

'We hope we can continue to collaborate with BPOM to maintain the availability and access to medicines and healthcare products in order for the public to obtain medications that are safe and of good quality. We believe BPOM will constantly strengthen their monitoring and enforcement capacities against fake medicines and illegal imported medicines that can harm people,' Irawati added.
PT. Sahngiang Perkasa is a subsidiary of Kalbe that has been established since 1982 and has produced healthcare products that are well known in public such as Diabetasol, Prenagen, Entrasol, Fitbar, Milna, et cetera. At present PT Sanghiang Perkasa has built a new factory in Cikampek area nearby to the factory of PT Kalbe Morinaga Indonesia that has been in operations since 2007. Both factories have fulfilled the standards of BPOM for Proper Manufacturing Method of Processed Food, as well as obtaining HACPP (Hazard, Analysis, and Critical Control Point) certifications.
Kalbe at a glance
PT Kalbe Farma Tbk ('Kalbe') was established in 1966 and is one of the biggest public pharmaceutical companies in Southeast Asia. Kalbe has four main divisions that handle reliable and varied brand portfolio; prescription medicines (Cefspan, Brainact, Broadced, etc); over-the-counter medication division (Woods, Promag, Mixagrip, Komix, Fatigon, etc); health drinks (Hydro Coco, Extra Joss, Nitros); nutrition division (ChilKid, Prenagen, Diabetasol, etc); and distribution division. Kalbe currently has more than 20 subsidiaries, 9 production facilities with international standard, and employs more than 17,000 employees dispersed across more than 71 branches throughout Indonesia.. From 1991, Kalbe is listed at Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX:KLBF).

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