Stakeholders in Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry are advocating for more research and development of herbal medicines to unlock the country’s potential as a plant-based medicine producer, while scientists are also pushing for further development of stem cell treatments to boost the country’s health care sector.
Despite the country’s large potential as plant-based medicine market, experts and players in the pharmaceutical industry have said that a lack of synergy among stakeholders, including in research and manufacturing, has hindered the development of herbal drugs.
Herbal medicine manufacturer PT Sido Muncul director Irwan Hidayat said that Indonesia, with its vast biodiversity, had abundant natural plant resources for herbal medicines, but that the scientific research to explore this potential remained insufficient.
“The numerous studies by ac…