Indonesia’s Indofarma to Launch Rapid Test Kits Soon

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - PT Indofarma Tbk (INAF) will produce the Covid-19 rapid test kits this year in a bid to increase the share of local components (TKDN), said the company’s top official.

“Insya Allah [God willing] the production will begin end of August or early September 2020 with two shifts production capacity about 300,000 pieces per month,” said Indofarma's President Director Arief Pramuhanto during a webinar in conjunction with the company’s 102nd anniversary on July 27.

Until now, he said, Indofarma still imports the rapid test kits. Previously, the company collaborated with producers in China and South Korea to bring in the rapid test kits and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits. The company would produce its rapid test kits to increase the local content requirements, he added.

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Besides the rapid test kits, Indofarma is also planning to produce one of the raw materials for melt-blown fabric masks as 95 percent of products used in Indonesia are still imported.

“The middle part of 3-ply surgical masks namely melt-blown fabric currently used in Indonesia is still imported. Therefore, we will produce the melt-blown cloth to supply the mask factories in the country,” he said.

The plan is one of the company’s efforts to support local pharmaceutical companies and reduce the dependency on imported products.

Indofarma has produced four million pieces of surgical masks every month and the production will be increased to 10 million pieces in early September and October 2020 to meet the needs of the people in Indonesia.

(Editor : Erlangga Djumena)

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2020/07/28/060800226/indofarma-segera-luncurkan-rapid-test-buatan-sendiri.