JAKARTA — IPMG members - including Novartis, Merck, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Pfizer - have invested more than USD $1 billion in Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry over the past few years, particularity for the construction of factories and clinical research.
An example is Bayer, which recently invested 8.1 million euros in the expansion of its factory in Cimanggis (West Java). This factory produces multivitamins and medicines, about 75% of which is exported to 26 countries.
In fact, there are more than 200 drugmakers in Indonesia, most of which produce only low-margin generics. While they control 95% of the market by volume, they have a combined 75% share in value terms. Therefore the few multinationals operating in the country have been able to make more profits because of their focus on high-value products.
Such activities are taking place while Indonesian President Joko Widodo is pushing its universal health care program to cover the country’s projected population of 270 million by 2019, a leap from the 170 million currently covered. This year for the first time, government expenditures on health care reached the legally mandated 5% of the state budget. Health care spending is expected to grow 12% every year through 2020.
sources : CPHI