President director Iskandar at the commemoration of the state-owned company`s 121st anniversary at the company headquarters here on Friday evening called on his employees to close ranks with regard to that.
He warned the onslaught of vaccine products from China could potentialy destroy the domestic industry.
He said the impact of the onslaught in the next three years could be serious including for Bio Farma.
He saw two potentials dangers from China namely cheap vaccines to Indonesia and the takeover of Indonesian overseas vaccine export markets.
"The Chinese vaccines would create a kind of black hole that would absorb all products into it," he said adding that later China could also control the price of vaccines that could damage the market.
In view of that he said the state-onwed company has taken some strategic measures for the next three years to meet the challenge including securing domestic distribution networks down to villages and preparing new businesses in which the company has capabilities.
At the Pacific Health Summit in Seattle, USA, early this year the Chinese delegation said that the Chinese drugs and food control agency had already passed World Health Organization (WHO) pre-qualifications and because of that Chinese vaccines would start flooding the global market in the next three years` time.
China would likely implement a cheap vaccine strategy in view of its capability in producing basic materials and making its own machinery to produce vaccines.
Out of 23 vaccine producing countries with majority Moslem population only Indonesia (Bio Farma) has so far received various WHO pre-qualification certificates for vaccine products such as for polio and measles and Td (tetanus and diphtheria toxoids).
Bio Farma was established on August 6, 1890 under the name of "Parc Vaccinogeneh" based on the decree of the governor of the Netherlands Indies Number 14 of 1890 in the Militer Weltevreden Batavia (now Gatot Soebroto army hospital in Jakarta).
From 1961 to 1978 it changed into state company Bio Farma and from 1978 to 1996 became a public company. As of 1997 it turned into a private liability company. (*)
(Y-YH/HAJM)
(T.F001/A/F001/F001) 06-08-2011 15:23:10
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
