TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned pharmaceutical firm Bio Farma in tandem with MDI Ventures - a venture firm owned by Telekomunikasi Indonesia - has established a joint investment body, Bio-Health Fund, which aims to fund startups in the field of biotech and healthcare services.

State-owned Enterprises Deputy Minister Pahala Nugraha Mansury on Thursday, May 12, said “Indonesia currently faces a multitude of challenges, one of them is linked to the healthcare industry to help Indonesia develop new technologies in the field of healthcare, whether that is biosciences, pharmacy, and healthcare digital tech industry.”

According to the deputy minister, the SOEs Ministry is also pushing to create similar investments to fund startups in the food sector and new energy.

“The next challenge is in food, we are pushing for partnerships between MDI Ventures and SOEs such as PTPN, ID Food, and Perhutani to develop the food industry. Similar to that, we also face a challenge in new energy,” he added.

Bio Farma President Director Honesti Basyir said his company as the holding company for state pharma plans to add to its portfolio apart from vaccines and serums.

"Take the example of the pandemic, we innovate to produce diagnostic kits in the form of mBio-Cov and Biosaliva, which are the result of collaboration with startup companies," he said.

Through the Bio-Health Fund, Bio Farma became the main Limited Partnership (LP) for startups engaged in biotech. The targeted product innovations include life science and health care products with the ultimate goal of building a national health ecosystem.

Read: House Questions Bio Farma's Ability to Produce Halal COVID-19 Vaccine

AHMAD FIKRI