Indonesia is aiming to manufacture its first, locally produced vaccine to combat the H5N1 avian influenza virus by 2013, with state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Biofarma working to prepare its facilities for developing the vaccine for mass production, a minister says. Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said that Biofarma was currently working on an initial stage of the vaccine, a process that could lead the way for its mass production in 2013. “It takes a long time to manufacture the bird-flu vaccine on a large scale. If the budget is available this year, then we will be able to have the facilities ready by the end of 2013,” Endang told reporters after witnessing the signing of an agreement between the Health Ministry and the Research and Technology Ministry on vaccine research and development. The government has developed a research consortium to develop the bird-flu vaccine to deal with any outbreaks. The consortium, led by the University of Indonesia's (UI) School of Medicine, involves several other institutions, including the Eijkman Institute, Health Research and Development Agency at the Health Ministry, the Indonesian Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), UI's School of Engineering, Biofarma and the University of Airlangga in Surabaya, East Java. “(The consortium) produced an avian influenza vaccine prototype under joint research in 2011,” said Endang Wednesday. In their research, scientists from the University of Airlangga succeeded in developing an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine seed that could kill the highly pathogenic bird flu virus in cases of human infection. The vaccine seed, which costs about Rp 2 billion ($234,000) to produce, was a first for Indonesia as it was developed from bird flu virus found in the country. It was also the first vaccine seed locally produced by Indonesian experts. Indonesia has an estimated 170 variants of bird flu, making it the country with the highest potential for developing bird flu-vaccine seeds. The consortium, Endang said, would continue to work with its partners to conduct research in order to develop other vaccines for diseases like malaria, HIV, Rotavirus, Pneumococcus, as well as adjuvant vaccines and other raw materials for medicine.
