In the context of transforming the health system in Indonesia, one of the agendas being carried out by the Ministry of Health is to increase pharmaceutical resilience through increasing domestic production of top 10 drugs by value which includes research, clinical trials, production, and meeting the needs of drugs and drug raw materials. One of them is the development of raw materials for Paracetamol. Paracetamol is the most consumed drug in Indonesia with a demand of 9,000 tons per year.

The development of domestic raw materials for the drug Paracetamol has the potential to be developed from upstream to downstream. In this regard, cooperation has been explored between PT Kimia Farma and China Sinopharm International Corporation to obtain supplies of imported Para Aminophenol (PAP).

Previously, a meeting was held on October 23, 2022 which was attended by the Director of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Resilience, Head of the Center for Global Health Policy and Health Technology (KGTK), Head of PT Kimia Farma Tbk, Head of PT Kimia Farma Sungwun Pharmacopia, and the Working Team for Development and Facilitation of Downstreaming of Chemical Raw Materials and Domestic Chemical Drugs.

As a follow-up to the meeting, on November 28, 2022, an MoU was signed between China Sinopharm International Corporation and PT Kimia Farma regarding cooperation in research, licensing, import-export, production, and distribution including cooperation in the development of Paracetamol.

Director General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices L. Rizka Andalucia, present virtually, said that the Ministry of Health supports and hopes that the agreement of this Memorandum of Understanding can strengthen cooperation between China and Indonesia, and increase the resilience of the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.

“The Ministry of Health continues to strive to achieve end-to-end national pharmaceutical security for Paracetamol through collaboration in mastering upstream to downstream processes carried out locally. To accelerate this, the Ministry of Health collaborates with academics, the chemical industry, the API industry, government partners, and the community, with the target of meeting national needs starting in 2024,” said the Director General.