TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - University of Indonesia epidemiologist, Pandu Riono, on Monday openly questioned a number of oddities in the claimed COVID-19 cure that was jointly developed by researchers from the Airlangga University, Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Pandu reasserts that there are stringent clinical drug trial requirements that adhere to the rules of the World Health Organization (WHO) and must be registered under the organization’s clinical trial, which he deems the Unair and BIN cure has yet complied with.

“Because it has yet been tested in the clinical trial research that meets the requirement,” said Pandu to Tempo on Monday, August 17.

Moreover, the epidemiologist said Unair as the main researcher behind the claimed cure should have reported it to the BPOM or the Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency instead of the TNI and BIN that funded the research.

“What happened was the TNI and BIN registering [the cure] to the BPOM. That is questionable,” said Pandu.

According to Pandu - who teaches the University of Indonesia’s Public Health Faculty - the research had given the impression since the beginning that it seeks an alternate route and ignoring scientific procedures and public discussions alike in the name of emergency dismissing the fact that the WHO offers multi-country clinical studies for member states.

On August 15, Airlangga University Rector, M. Nasih, asked for the support of all parties for the drug combinations to cure Covid-19 found by a joint team from the university, BIN, National Army, and the food and drug monitoring agency (BPOM) can immediately be granted with production and distribution permits. He claimed it would be the world's first Covid-19 cure.

"After we combined [these drugs], the healing power highly increases and is good. The effectivity reached 98 percent for certain combinations," said Nasih.

Read: UNAIR, BIN, TNI AD Claim to Have Found First COVID-19 Cure

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