Eijkman-BRIN Merger Delays Home-Grown Vaccine Launch

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former head of the Eijkman Institute of Molecular Biology Amin Soebandrio in a hearing with members of Commission VII House legislators on Monday revealed talks have surfaced regarding the establishment of a foreign vaccine company in Indonesia amidst the development of Indonesia’s home-grown Merah Putih vaccine.  This comes after the institute was integrated into the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

His statement came after a House member asked whether the disbandment of the Eijkman would do harm for the country. 

Amin believes the direct effects of the merger is the postponed development of the Indonesian Covid-19 vaccine initiated by the EIjkman, which was initially prepared for a 2022 deadline but will likely be postponed to 2023. 

He also insists that the discourse on establishing a foreign vaccine company would be a loss for Indonesia from an economic point of view, technology transfer and the ability to develop vaccines independently.

“Another loss that would be felt by the country is the inability to produce our own vaccine, which then resulted in talks about establishing a foreign vaccine company in Indonesia.” said Soebandrio.

Previously, the Head of BRIN, Laksana Tri Handoko, said to Antaranews that the Merah Putih vaccine research team will be further strengthened by the integration into BRIN as they would be joined by researchers from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the Health Ministry’s research and development. 

Read: LIPI Former Chief: Integration of Institutions into BRIN Leads to Chaos

ANTARA