Bioteknologi UGM – Master of Biotechnology study program at Postgraduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has recently received an honour opportunity of a public lecture from PT. Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia that lectured by Andreas Donny Prakarsa, S.Farm., M.Sc. He is working as a Head of Corporate Relationship at PT. Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia. Previously, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy at Sanatha Darma University, Yogyakarta, and continued his Master program by taking Medical Biotechnology at Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia (Etana) is one of the biproduct and biopharmacy industries in Indonesia which focuses on the human health with the implementation of biotechnology. Etana founded since 2014 and has currently building strategic alliance networks and partnerships with international pharmaceutical manufacturers which have strength records in research and developing several safe and effective drugs.
Andreas Donny Prakarsa, S.Farm., M.Sc. has delivered on this public lecture about the current developed products from Etana, one of which is the development of vaccine based on mRNA in Southeast Asian. The aim of the vaccine development with next-generation mRNA is one of the supports from Etana to the government for creating an industrial independency in pharmacy and fulfilling the needs of national vaccine for 426.8 millions dosage, reaching for the public herd-immunity of the COVID-19 diseases. In the development of this mRNA-based vaccine, Etana is currently doing a research collaboration with one of the vaccine manufacturers in Tiongkok, Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, and also with Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Indonesia (FKUI). Through this collaboration, there is a hope for new generations of Indonesian youth in using mRNA technologies thus this is becoming a milestone in Indonesia of the development of biological product with mRNA platforms.
Moreover, Andreas added if the development of these biotechnology products surely needed researchers with great talents and having good research skills in Biotechnology. Etana offers an opportunity to young researchers, particularly for Master students in Biotechnology at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) to join and becoming a great researcher in PT. Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia for realising innovations in Biotechnology for Indonesia. The future of Biotechnology for Etana becomes a key to support the productivity of biological and bipharmaceutical products that can be downstreamed for the mass production.