BPOM: Indonesia will Run Tests on Pfizer, Sputnik, other Covid Vaccine Candidate

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) confirmed that a number of Covid-19 vaccine products such as Pfizer, Sputnik, and Astrazeneca will undergo clinical trials in Indonesia. The BPOM said it has communicated with the vaccine manufacturers about using these products as test materials.

"There have been several vaccine [producers] that have started communicating with BPOM. We are ready to assist the researches all the way to the downstreaming," BPOM head Penny K. Lukito said in a virtual press conference, Thursday, November 1.

However, for other vaccine products such as Moderna, Penny said there are no plans for domestic clinical trial yet. Moderna's vaccine is an anti-virus that is claimed to have up to 94.5 percent effectiveness against corona.

In preparation for testing Pfizer, Sputnik, and Astrazeneca, BPOM will issue a use permit once all conditions are met. The use permit is different from the distribution permit.

Penny asked pharmaceutical industry actors to prepare the facilities needed to produce vaccines that might pass the test. "BPOM is assisting (the industry) in order to get good (results)," he said.

Currently, there is only one vaccine confirmed to enter Indonesia and will soon obtain an emergency use of authorization (EUA) permit, Sinovac. Sinovac is a vaccine produced by Sinovac Biotech from China in collaboration with Bio Farma. The vaccine candidate is still in its third phase of the clinical trial.

Read: COVID-19 Vaccine; Govt Open to Partnership with Pfizer-BioNTech

Francisca Christy Rosana