COVID-19 – China’s Zifivax vaccine to be manufactured in Indonesia

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Zifivax vaccine has received an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) as a booster dose from Indonesia’s National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) on Monday (Jan. 10).

Zifivax is developed and produced by the Chinese company, Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, with a recombinant protein sub-unit platform.

Zifivax will be developed and produced in Indonesia through a production collaboration between PT Jakarta Biopharmaceutical Industry and PT Biotis Pharmaceutical Indonesia, Marketing and Partnerships Director of Jakarta Biopharmaceutical Industry (JBio) Chairuddin Yunus stated here on Monday (Jan. 10).

Meanwhile, Director for Operations of Biotis Pharmaceuticals Indonesia (Biotis), Rakesh Deoddut Vyas, said that the company is to carry out fill and finished production of Zifivax vaccine at a factory located in Bogor district, West Java province.

Vyas said that Biotis has been intensively preparing the production for the last five months collaborating with PT JBio and Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical.

“We have started to transfer technology with Anhui five months ago. All quality and production operation protocols as well as bulk transfer handling of Zifivax vaccine have been carefully organized,” he said.

Vyas said, in the near future Anhui would send nine quality and production supervisory experts to assist Biotis and JBio teams in the technology transfer process for Zifivax vaccine production to be carried out in Indonesia.

According to him, the first batch of Zifivax production will be carried out in the last week of January 2022.

The commercial production will start in mid-February 2022 with Biotis’ current fill and finished capacity of around 30 million doses per month or 360 million doses per year.

“We will continue to increase this capacity in line with the plan to produce the inactivated platform of Indonesia’s Merah Putih COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Unair (Airlangga University), which will be carried out around June/July and August 2022,” he said.

Reporting by Indonesia Window