Indonesian biotech startup Etana secures funding to bring products to SE Asia

Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia (Etana) has received new investments to develop high-quality and affordable biopharmaceutical products for patients in Southeast Asian countries.

The company‘s President Director, Nathan Tirtana, stated that the financial support would help provide better treatment and improve healthcare for their target population.

The funding round was led by DEG and participated by Yunfeng Capital, HighLight Capital, and East Ventures. Etana plans to use the funding to strengthen their pipeline and portfolio, especially in their Oncology area.

The company aims to tackle challenges in oncology and other life-threatening diseases, including vaccine development, for the Southeast Asian market.

Etana focuses on local biopharmaceutical production for mRNA platforms, proteins, and monoclonal antibodies. They are committed to building production capacity for mammalian cell monoclonal antibodies drug substances to ensure high local content production and technology capability.

The company’s mRNA vaccine received an Emergency Use Authorization from the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority and a halal certificate from the Halal Product Assurance Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Etana was the first pharmaceutical company in ASEAN to have mRNA technology, which is a flexible vaccine development platform that can quickly respond to the need for innovative and flexible biopharmaceutical products for cancer, vaccines, and others.

Etana also produces bevacizumab biosimilar, a recombinant humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody drug for cancer patients in Indonesia, that has complied with the drug safety and efficacy standards set by the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority.

The company also produces Erythropoietin (EPO) needed in dialysis treatment. The firm plans to develop an adenovirus platform for vaccine production to meet domestic needs and is planned to be exported to the ASEAN market and other countries.

DEG Management Board member, Monika Beck, said that by working with Etana, they can help ensure that the underprivileged would have access to high-quality biopharmaceutical medicines and mRNA vaccines.

The initiative of Etana to provide high-quality and affordable biopharmaceutical products will contribute to strengthening the resilience of the national health system. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the inadequacies of Indonesia’s healthcare system, according to Willson Cuaca, Co-Founder and Managing Partner East Ventures.

He added that Etana’s innovative products, including various vaccines, cancer drugs, and other biological products, have provided an avenue to urge all stakeholders in the ecosystem to bring quick and innovative solutions for tackling the crisis.