TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned pharmaceutical company PT Kimia Farma has said it is producing and distributing three variants of therapeutic COVID-19 drugs azithromycin, favipiravir, and remdesivir.

"Kimia Farma is producing azithromycin tablets, which are being produced by a total of 33 companies in Indonesia, with 19 of the companies producing generic azithromycin, including Kimia Farma," said chairman of PT Kimia Farma, Verdi Budidarmo, at a meeting with Commission VI of the House of Representatives, accessed virtually from Jakarta on Wednesday.

The company has distributed at least 58 thousand boxes of azithromycin since June 2021, with each box containing 20 tablets, he disclosed.

"This month, we will distribute nearly six million tablets and in the following months," he added.

Providing details on the distribution chain of the drug, he said a total of 1,233 PT Kimia Farma pharmacies located in different areas are among those stocking the drug currently.

PT Kimia Farma is also producing favipiravir and the company is expecting to boost production to seven million tablets by July 23, 2021, Budidarmo informed.

He said the drug has been cleared for emergency use by the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) and has been distributed to several hospitals through the company's trading and distribution channel.

"Favipirapir is being produced by Kimia Farma. There are six domestic industries that are also producing it using almost all imported materials," he added.

The state-owned pharmaceutical company is also aiming to meet the public demand for the therapeutic drug remdesivir, Budidarmo said.

"There are currently seven pharmaceutical industries in Indonesia that are importing the drug, one of which is Kimia Farma," he said.

Domestic demand for remdesivir injections, he continued, is hoped to be fulfilled by September this year.

PT Kimia Farma is involved in the domestic development of remdesivir injections, along with PT Phapros, Budidarmo informed adding, the raw medicinal materials for the injections will be produced by a subsidiary of his company.

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ANTARA