Dong-A ST has accelerated its entry into the rapidly growing Indonesian market with the completion of a local biopharmaceutical production plant.

On February 6, Dong-A ST (Vice Chairman Kang Soo-hyoung) announced the recent completion of ‘PT Combiphar Donga Indonesia’, a biopharmaceutical production facility in which it has jointly invested with Combiphar (President Michael Wanandi), its Indonesian partner pharmaceutical company, in the Jababeka Industrial Complex near Jakarta, Indonesia.

In July 2014, Dong-A ST and Combiphar signed a strategic alliance for the mid- to long-term growth of the two companies. Accordingly, Dong-A ST has dispatched staff to Combiphar to transfer the know-how and technical information necessary for the construction and operation of a biopharmaceutical production plant, and the two companies have together built the factory in Indonesia.

The biopharmaceutical plant, which the two companies completed jointly with an investment of about $15 million, has a total area of 10,000m2 and a floor area of 4,400m2. The three-story building boasts an annual production capacity of 4.7 million pre-filled syringes, and comprises a production facility, a waste disposal facility, and a dangerous goods disposal facility. It is expected to become fully operational by 2020 following the validation of various items of equipment and production processes, and after obtaining the local GMP certification.

Once the plant has entered into operation, Dong-A ST will export its biopharmaceutical raw materials for its own products - such as Eporon, an anemia treatment, and Leucostim, a treatment for neutropenia in patients with chronic renal failure - to Combiphar, while PT Combiphar Donga Indonesia will be responsible for production and Combiphar will be responsible for selling the products locally.

Prior to the full-scale operation of the plant, Dong-A ST plans to export finished drug products such as Eporon and Leucostim to Combiphar in advance to secure product recognition in the Indonesian market. Eporon obtained marketing authorization in Indonesia in December of last year, while Leucostim is in the process of product registration, having already passed phase III of the clinical trial.

Established in 1971, Combiphar is a leading Indonesian pharmaceutical company that sells more than 200 ethical and generic drugs, including OBH Combi, Indonesia’s leading cold medicine, and has excellent sales infrastructure and know-how.

An official from Dong-A ST said, “As the local production plant has now been completed, Dong-A ST has secured a bridgehead in the Indonesian market, and Combiphar has secured the growth engine it needs to become a leading Indonesian pharmaceutical company.” “By continuing to work closely with Combiphar, we will do our utmost to ensure that the biosimilar of Dong-A ST will successfully enter the Indonesian market,” he added.