Heaptalk, Jakarta — PT Bio Farma, a state-owned enterprise that produces vaccines and life sciences products, has signed a contract to export vaccines worth Rp1.4 trillion, approximately US$88.9 million (US$1 equals Rp15,749) in 2025. The vaccines include polio, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis.
According to Soleh Ayubi, Deputy CEO of Bio Farma, this amount represents nearly half of Bio Farma’s export target of Rp3 trillion, almost US$190.5 million. The export contract was obtained during a routine meeting with 43 global pharmaceutical companies and several health stakeholders, including WHO and UNICEF, in October this year in São Paulo, Brazil.
“In Brazil, we signed contracts valued at Rp1.4 trillion for 2025. For the global market, the margins are quite substantial. The Rp3 trillion figure is our total export target for 2025, not including domestic targets. At this point, we have secured almost half of our export goal,” Soleh said at a press conference at the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Central Jakarta (11/01).
Targeting a fivefold increase in production
Bio Farma’s vaccines have been used by around 700 million children across 153 countries besides Indonesia. Soleh mentioned that the company continues to improve its products and ensure its supply chain’s reliability. He emphasized, “For instance, if there’s a disruption at our factory in Pasteur, Bandung, it impacts 153 countries. A delay there could mean delays in all 153 countries. It’s not easy, but it’s extremely critical.”
The company, which produces the Covid-19 vaccine IndoVac, announced plans to build a new factory and increase its production capacity up to fivefold over the next ten years. Bio Farma has a factory in Pasteur, Bandung, with a vaccine production capacity of 3.1 billion doses.
Soleh added, “We plan to increase our capacity several times, which is not feasible at our Bandung factory. Built 130 years ago, it was in a forest back then. Now, it’s in the middle of the city, and public safety has become a concern. We are now seeking guidance from the Minister to find a location that can also serve our needs for the next 50 to 100 years.”
On this occasion, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir stated that the Ministry strives to establish partnerships for Bio Farma with various countries to position it as one of the world’s vaccine production centers. “We are pushing for production to increase fivefold over the next ten years, covering a range of vaccines, including for cervical cancer, among others. During my visit to the UK, I signed an agreement with a company from Scotland for blood disorder treatments,” Erick concluded.
