ETANA AND UGM HOST INDONESIA BIOPHARMACEUTICAL SUMMIT 2025: SHAPING THE FUTURE OF BIOPHARMA IN THE COUNTRY

Yogyakarta, October 6, 2025 — PT Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia (Etana) together with the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) held the Indonesia Biopharmaceutical Summit (IBS) 2025, a strategic forum bringing together stakeholders from academia, industry, and government sectors. Carrying the theme “Shaping the Future of Biopharma in Indonesia”, this event serves as an important momentum to drive innovation and strengthen the biotechnology ecosystem toward national health sovereignty in Indonesia.

The Dean of UGM Faculty of Pharmacy, Prof. Dr. Satibi, M.Si., Apt, hopes that IBS 2025 will not only create meaningful dialogues but also produce tangible collaborations that contribute to Indonesia’s health transformation. According to him, Indonesia has strong foundations to leverage its rich biodiversity and national research capabilities in developing high-quality biopharmaceutical products, while strengthening the country’s position as a regional hub for health innovation.

“The future of biopharma depends on our ability to collaborate. Discoveries made in universities must be translated into real products that benefit society, and this requires strong partnerships between academia, industry, and regulators,” said Prof. Satibi in his remarks.

From Global Innovation to Local Production: Etana’s Technology Transfer Journey

The main session of IBS 2025 featured Etana’s General Manager Technical Operations, Dr. Miles Shi, Ph.D, who shared Etana’s experience in bringing global innovations into local manufacturing independence. In his presentation titled “Bridging Global Innovation to Local Manufacturing: Best Practice for Technology Transfer,” Miles explained the phase-gated framework implemented by Etana to ensure that the technology transfer process runs efficiently, meets global standards, and remains quality-oriented.

“Technology transfer is not merely a technical process, but a collaborative journey and shared learning experience. Etana integrates WHO and PDA best practices to build a biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem that complies with international standards,” Miles explained.

He added that Etana’s successful technology transfers not only accelerate public access to high-quality medicines and vaccines but also strengthen Indonesia’s capability to independently produce biotechnology products.

“By combining global expertise with local execution, we aim to accelerate self-reliance and deliver world-class biopharmaceutical products made in Indonesia,” he continued.

Meanwhile, the Director of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Resilience at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Jeffri Ardiyanto, M.App.Sc., emphasized that limitations in technology, dependency on imported raw materials, and a shortage of high-quality human resources remain challenges for local production in Indonesia. However, the government continues efforts to enhance pharmaceutical raw material and biotechnology independence through the health transformation strategy particularly the third pillar, which focuses on meeting health product needs by strengthening research capacity, manufacturing, market development, and partnerships with regional and global collaborators.

The results of this strategy are becoming more visible. To date, Indonesia has recorded the production of 12 types of vaccines and 8 biological products developed by 8 local biopharmaceutical companies, including products resulting from technology transfer collaborations with global partners.

“These policies are major efforts to strengthen Indonesia’s healthcare system from upstream to downstream—from raw materials, research, production, to distribution. But most importantly, all players in the biopharma ecosystem must work hand-in-hand. Through collaboration, we can enhance national health resilience and improve the quality of care for the community,” Dr. Jeffri concluded.