Daewoong Infion obtained World's First Halal Certification for Biopharmaceutical Product Derived from Animal Cells

SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Daewoong Infion Co. has achieved world's first halal certification for animal cells-derived biopharmaceuticals. 

Daewoong Infion obtained halal certification from The Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics, the Indonesian Council of Ulama (LPPOM MUI) for the Erythropoietin (EPO) product, 'Epodion' on January 3, 2020.

Daewoong Infion is a joint venture of Korean healthcare company, Daewoong Pharmaceutical and an Indonesian company, Infion, that was formed in 2012. Indonesia's first biopharmaceutical plant has been constructed in Surabaya and is currently producing and selling Indonesia's first biosimilar drug, Epodion.

Epodion is an anemia treatment for dialysis patients with kidney failures and cancer patients, which obtained approval from Indonesian National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) on December 2016 and was launched on April 2017. Six months after its launch, the product has ranked 1^st in Indonesia's EPO market and currently leading with over 40% of the market share.

Daewoong Infion has been preparing to enter the global market through halal certification in Indonesia based on Epodion's achievements. Following the product licensing of Epodion, Daewoong Infion formed a separate team to obtain its halal certification. As a result, after the halal certification application on October 2017 and going through a due diligence in 2019, within 2 years, the halal certification is obtained. 

Based on halal certification, Daewoong Infion plans to obtain Halal certification for all products that are being produced in Indonesia, including Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) and growth hormone-making Caretropine (Caretropin).

"Daewoong Pharmaceutical is aiming to enter the Middle East drug market, based on halal certification from Indonesia, the largest Muslim country," said Chang Woo Suh, CEO of Daewoong Infion. "As a global healthcare company, we will do our best to contribute to improving the quality of life for many Muslims around the world by providing excellent and safe medicines."

Meanwhile, Daewoong Infion won the Indonesian Minister of Health and Welfare's Award in 2017 for its outstanding biopharmaceuticals and accomplished the achievement of being selected as the best biopharmaceutical company from the Indonesian Food and Drug Administration.

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200108/2684449-1

SOURCE Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd