ProBioGen, Bio Farma sign deal to develop biosimilar Trastuzumab for cancer treatment

The goal of the co-operation is the supply of the Indonesian patients with cost-effective high quality biopharmaceuticals.

Under the terms of the agreement ProBioGen will develop a highly efficient manufacturing process based on a specifically designed recombinant CHO-cell line, conduct engineering runs and the industrial scale-up.

The turn-key process, including state-of-the-art analytics, will then be transferred to Indonesia to enable local market production. The agreement is fee-for-service based, license and royalty-free.

ProBioGen CEO Wieland Wolf said: "This is the 1st Trastuzumab molecule which will be produced locally for the Indonesian market to provide effective modern medicines for a country of 250 million people.

"We are proud to be a partner of the well-established and experienced Bio Farma, a government company with a successful history of more than 120 years."

ProBioGen vice president of business development Gabriele Schneider said: "The task to develop high-quality therapeutic proteins with high productivity but low commercial-scale production costs fits very well to our passion for developing intelligent biopharmaceutical solutions, based on our in-house CHO manufacturing platform of adapted cells, robust and economical process development know-how and chemically defined media platform."

Iskandar, President Director of Bio Farma said: "Bio Farma is proud to be collaborating with ProBioGen. This collaboration will undoubtedly enhance our vision to enter lifescience industry, where in future it will contribute to producing high-quality biopharmaceuticals particulary for the Indonesian people and others in the world."