Through PT Forsta Kalmedic Global, PT Kalbe Farma Tbk (Kalbe) commits to provide high quality medical product and equipment innovations. This is also a support towards the government’s program in regards to national health resiliency to support the independence of local pharmaceutical industry. After launching a local surgical thread last year, Forsta is now successful in producing a local medical equipment, Mobile X-ray (Elva JollyPlus 301) and a Dialyzer production facility (RenaCare). Forsta is the first company in Indonesia and the second in ASEAN that owns a dialyzer production facility.
“Kalbe believes that through the provision of the Mobile X-ray and Dialyzer medical equipment that are produced locally by Kalbe through Forsta, it is a form of our commitment towards our continuous effort to improve access to healthcare for the society. Kalbe continues to support the government’s programs for health independence, including the ones that are within the National Industry Development Master Plan (Rencana Induk Pembangunan Industri Nasional/RIPIN), where it shows that the medical equipment industry has become a prioritized sector,” says the President Director of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk, Irawati Setiady.
“The development of this priority sector also increases the domestic component level (TKDN) of local medical equipment industry to fulfill the needs of the domestic market, including for government’s procurement. One of the medical tools that we want to develop is a medium-high technology product, including for radiology,” Irawati adds.
Mobile x-ray is a radiograph tool that can be moved or brought to various locations to take x-rays. It is different than stationary x-ray mchines that are usually placed in radiology rooms in hospitals or clinics. This mobile or portable x-ray machine is designed to be used in places that are hard to reach by patients such as intensive care units (ICU), surgery rooms, or even at their houses.
This local medical equipment has been granted a production license by the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency of Indonesia (Badan Pengawas Tenaga Nuklir/BAPETEN). Mobile X-ray has also successfully obtained a certification of CPAKB (Cara Pembuatan Alat Kesehatan yang Baik/Good Medical Device Manufacturing Practice) from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes/Kementerian Kesehatan RI). This medical device has also been certified internationally with the ISO 13485:2016 certification for an electromedical production line by the BSI Global (British Standards Institution). These achievements prove that this radiology technology’s international quality management system has met standards and can support medical needs.
“We hope that Forsta’s Mobile X-ray, that has been used at various public and private hospitals, can expand its reach to support radiology services for patients in Indonesia. Forsta has also been successful to build a Dialyzer production facility which makes them the first company in Indonesia and the second in ASEAN that owns a dialyzer production facility. Dialyzer has also obtained the CPAKB certification from the Ministry of,” Irawati says.
According to the data from the Indonesia Renal Registry, there is an increase of patients with chronic kidney issues in 2022, with the number reaching 63,489 active patients undergoing hemodialysis and 158,929 patients were detected with chronic kidney failures. Aside from providing drugs for kidney therapies, there is a need of special effort towards making sure that medical equipment is available for hemodialysis. This includes the availability of dialyzer.
Dialyzer is a vital consumable in hemodialysis, which is a procedure for patients with drastic kidney function decreases. According to the data of BPJS Kesehatan, dialysis is the fourth most costly health treatment that is funded by the BPJS. With this local dialyzer product, BPJS’ fund will be able to be used not only for patients with kidney failures, but also to support local medical equipment industry and ensure that this fund can move local economy.
Forsta’s achievement is appreciated and congratulated by several parties. The Directorate General for Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices, Lucia Rizka Andalucia; the Advisor of the Industry of The First Expert of the Ministry of (Kemenperin), Robby Ardian Baskoro; the President Director of BPJS Kesehatan, Prof. Ali Ghufron Mukti; the Director of Licensing of Radiation Facilityies and Radioactive Materials of BAPETEN, Ishak; the First Analyst of Policies of Digital Market Directorate of Procurement of the National Public Procurement Office (Lembaga Kebijakan Pengadaan Barang/Jasa Pemerintah/LKPP), Sri Utaminingsih; and the Chairman of Product Testing Lab of the Balai Pengamanan Alat dan Fasilitas Kesehatan (BPAFK/Medical Equipment and Facility Security Body) Jakarta, Marlina Harahap attended Forsta’s launching event.
In March 2023 through Forsta, Kalbe launched a local surgical thread that had a TKDN of more than 40 percent. In the future, Forsta will further complete the variants for electromedical products and dialyzers to support national health resilience.
Forsta at a Glance
1. PT Forsta Kalmedic Global (www.forsta.co.id) is a subsidiary that was established in 2019 to support the government in national resilience in the medical equipment industry. Forsta has the capability to produce various products that can meet regulation requirements of the international market.
2. Forsta has obtained production certificates, a CPAKB (Cara Pembuatan Alat Kesehatan yang Baik/Good Medical Device Manufacturing Practice) certificate, an ISO 13485 certificate, a halal certificate, a TKDN (Tingkat Komponen Dalam Negeri/Domestic Component Level) certificate, and licensing from the BAPETEN.
3. The production of Elva, a commercial surgical thread, has been run since December 2021 with its first product, Elvalene, a synthetic polypropylene thread that cannot be absorbed. In 2022, Elvalene was listed in e-catalogues and was tested in several educational hospitals in the island of Java. Elvalene has also been certified halal and has obtained a TKDN certificate with more than 40% of domestic component level.
4. In February & March 2023, Forsta launched more products to make their portfolio more complete:
· Synthetic surgical threads that are absorbable: Elvacryl, Elvadio, Elvamono, Elvarapid
· Natural surgical threads that are absorbable: Elvaplain, Elvachromic
This portfolio could meet the main needs of surgical threads in the market.
5. Forsta has signed an MoU with two Italian technology companies, Tecnoideal and BMI, as their technology partner to build manufacturing competence of various medical equipment products with Indonesia’s technology content.
Kalbe at a Glance
PT Kalbe Farma Tbk (Kalbe) was established in 1966 and is one of the biggest public pharmaceutical companies in Southeast Asia. Kalbe has four main divisions that handle a portfolio of dependable and various brands: the prescription pharmaceutical division, the health products division that handles over-the-counter drugs, multivitamins, and ready-to-serve supplemental drinks, the nutritions division, and the distribution & logistics division.
Kalbe has also developed B2B-based digital services ecosystems for the society: EMOS and MOSTRANS. EMOS is an order management application system that helps distribution channels perform their stock or supply chain management actions. MOSTRANS is a B2B transportation solution provider for an easy management and efficiency of transportation.
Kalbe now has more than 49 subsidiaries and 14 international-standard production facilities, supported by around 16,000 employees in 71 branches throughout Indonesia. Kalbe’s shares have been listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange/Bursa Efek Indonesia (IDX:KLBF) since 1991.