Drug manufacturing to begin late this year
ChongKunDang Pharm has dedicated an anti-cancer drug plant in Indonesia, which will serve as a springboard for its global reach. The dedication ceremony was held jointly with local pharmaceutical company OTTO at Cikarang Industrial Estate, 50km from Jakarta, on July 9.
Attending the ceremony were Nila Farid Moeloek, Indonesian Minister of Health, Penny Lukito, head of Indonesia Food and Drug Supervisory Agency, Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Kim Chang-beom, Won Hee-mok, chairman of Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association, ChongKunDang Pharm Chairman Lee Jang-han and CEO Kim Young-joo, Jimmy Sudharta, chairman of Indonesia’s Mensa Group, the holding company of OTTO pharmaceutical firm.
After establishing CKD-OTTO, a joint venture with OTTO in September 2015, ChongKunDang Pharm began construction of an anti-cancer drug manufacturing plant in Cikarang Industrial Estate, in July 2016 and obtained approval from the Indonesian government in September last year for manufacturing of medicines and quality control standards. In February this year, the facility was certified as a Halal by the Indonesian Council of Islam. It is known to be the first Halal-certified anti-cancer drug plant in Indonesia.
The CKD-OTTO anti-cancer drug plant, which cost $30 million, is a two-story building with a floor area of 12,588 square meters and is the first overseas production base established by ChongKunDang Pharm. It is capable of manufacturing 1.6 million vials of anti-cancer drugs a year at the state-of-the-art facility that meets the EU-GMP standards for manufacturing and quality control of medicines enough to export anti-cancer drugs to European countries.
ChongKunDang Pharm has already completed test production, and the Indonesian government has granted license for its anti-cancer drugs Gemcitabine and Paclitaxel, both used for chemotherapy. The company plans to start commercial production in the second half of this year after receiving additional manufacturing permits for major anti-cancer drugs.
The company has decided to target Indonesia as its first overseas production base in light of the great growth potential of the local drug market. Indonesia has the world's fourth-largest population of 270 million people. The size of the pharmaceutical market is expected to grow rapidly from 8 trillion won as of 2018 to 13 trillion won in 2023, supported by the revisions of the National Health Insurance-related laws.
In addition, Indonesia's market for anti-cancer drugs is valued at around 230 billion won and is growing at an annual rate of more than 38%, but many of its anti-cancer injection facilities are not local due to higher processing loads.
ChongKunDong Pharm will set its sights on the 130 billion won cellular-toxic anti-cancer drug market, which accounts for the largest portion of Indonesia’s anti-cancer product market.
ChongKunDang Pharm Chairman Lee Jang-han said, "Indonesia is a market of opportunities that are large in terms of size and growth." He added that "we are determined to make inroads into the global market starting this year in time with commercial production of the anti-cancer drug factory.”