It is time for biotechnology innovation to leave its comfort zone and reach society

Indonesian biotechnology research needs to move beyond the laboratory and become products that people can use. The central challenge is crossing what researchers call the “valley of death,” the gap between a successful laboratory result and technology ready for commercial production.

Andreas Donny Prakasa, director of corporate relations and strategic affairs at PT Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia, raised the issue at a biotechnology innovation workshop and cooperation agreement signing at the University of Indonesia in Depok on Aug. 27, 2026. He said commercialization requires a long process, including scale-up, validation, compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice standards, preclinical and clinical trials, regulation and market preparation.

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Industry needs to be involved from the early stages of research so that market needs, production scale, regulation and economic feasibility are taken into account. This is where the teaching factory plays a strategic role, as a place where research results are prepared to move up from laboratory scale to industrial standards.

“Industry needs to be involved from the early stages of research so that market needs, production scale, regulation and economic feasibility are taken into account,” Donny said. He described a teaching factory as a strategic setting where research can move from laboratory scale toward industrial standards. Laboratory facilities and teaching factories, he added, should align with technology readiness assessments and product innovation road maps.

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The development of this mRNA-based dengue vaccine is part of an effort to deliver innovation that meets Indonesia’s needs, by making use of the diversity of dengue strains circulating domestically.

One cross-sector project presented at the event is a prototype mRNA-based tetravalent dengue vaccine. The project brings together the University of Indonesia, Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency, the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education, Etana and Tsinghua University.

The vaccine candidate was designed around local dengue strain diversity, from DENV-1 through DENV-4, using in-silico mutation analysis and artificial intelligence. Initial tests showed significant neutralizing activity against all four serotypes, with some vaccine constructs outperforming wild-type and commercial comparators. Indonesia’s Food and Drug Authority also presented its GROW BPOM initiative, which offers regulatory guidance, accelerated production permits and support for product registration.

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BPOM is committed to supporting the downstream development of research from an early stage. Through collaboration among academia, business and government, we facilitate regulatory guidance through marketing authorization so that Indonesian researchers’ innovations meet safety and quality standards and are ready to provide real benefits to society.