BD, Bio Farma collaborate to help eliminate TB in Indonesia by 2030

BD and Bio Farma signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a joint effort to combat tuberculosis (TB) by providing access to BD’s innovative TB diagnostics portfolio and establishing a partnership to optimize the supply chain for TB solutions in Indonesia.

The MOU exemplifies a strong commitment to public health and innovation, and was signed by officials from Bio Farma, BD and witnessed by the Indonesian Minister of Health, Deputy Chief of Mission (Minister), Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, and other company officials.

With over one million annual TB cases, Indonesia has the second highest TB disease burden in the world. Before the global Covid-19 pandemic, TB was the country’s leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. TB that is resistant to one or both of the first line drugs typically used in treatment, rifampicin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH), remains a critical hurdle in the fight to eradicate the disease, as patients with drug-resistant TB require different medications. If not identified early and treated appropriately, treatment may not succeed, resulting in a risk of disease progression, transmission, and acquisition of resistance to additional drugs. With timely detection and treatment, however, TB is curable.

“This collaboration is a testament to our dedication to assisting Indonesia in improving TB diagnosis, particularly multidrug-resistant TB and mono-resistant TB,” said Nikos Pavlidis, acting president, BD Diagnostic Solutions. “I am encouraged by our collective efforts that are aligned with Indonesia’s national goal of TB elimination by year 2030.”

The BD MAX™ MDR-TB assay enables laboratorians and clinicians to simultaneously detect bacteria that cause tuberculosis and determine if the bacteria is multidrug-resistant or mono-resistant, enhancing the information available to direct the optimal treatment for their patients.

“Bio Farma’s collaboration with BD adds an opportunity and an important step for Bio Farma to deepen its experience, knowledge and expertise in the field of diagnostic kits development and is part of our commitment to improving access to TB-related services, from detection to vaccination,” said Shadiq Akasya, president director of Bio Farma. “This collaboration helps us expand the diagnostic kits products portfolio, and we hope we can help Indonesia significantly reduce TB cases and eliminate TB by the end of this decade.”

The BD MAX™ System is a molecular diagnostic platform already in use at thousands of laboratories worldwide. The system is fully automated, reducing the opportunity for human error and increasing the speed to result, and can process 24 samples simultaneously, and up to several hundred samples per 24-hour period. Each unit is capable of performing assays for respiratory infections, enteric pathogens, hospital acquired infections, and sexually transmitted infections. The BD MAX™ MDR-TB assay is included in the World Health Organization (WHO) 2021 guideline update on rapid diagnostics for tuberculosis detection.
MB Bureau