Kuta, Bali, Nov 2 (Antara Bali) - The president of Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DVCMN) conference, Mahendra Suhardono, has stated that participants of the 13th DVCMN conference held in Kuta, Bali, have agreed to cooperate in technology transfer for vaccine manufacturing in developing countries.
"Actually, many cooperation agreements have been established among the DVCMN members, such as among Indonesia, India and South Africa. However, it was in this conference that the commitment to cooperate in technology transfer was reaffirmed," he said here on Friday.
Mahendra noted that the member countries were already aware of the importance of vaccine technology transfer. Therefore, he added, the various panel discussions held from October 31 through November 2, 'went smoothly with no significant obstacles or points of disagreement.'
"Ideally technology transfer starts from searching and finding the vaccine germs, followed by research and finally production of the vaccine," Mahendra said.
However, technology transfer efforts for the development of vaccines in a number of developing countries are hampered by the high population of these countries. Large-scale production of these vaccines at affordable prices involves high costs, he pointed out.
"Technology transfers also face patent and territory issues. Certain countries may not be ready to accept technology transfer, which is actually mutual beneficial," Mahendra continued.
He stated that the two main challenges facing vaccine manufacturing were high costs and time-consuming research.
"Vaccines must be of high quality and also should be competitively priced in order to be effective in fighting various diseases across the world," Mahendra said.
He noted that the conference was an ideal platform for participants to not only exchange relevant information and experience but also expand their business network.
"For instance, Iran is now more familiar with the vaccines produced by Bio Farma, Indonesia sole vaccine manufacturer. Iran and Indonesia have also signed a memorandum of understanding," Mahendra added.(LHS)
