Supporting the Growth of Indonesian Biotechnology and "Life Science" Startups

One sector that is still very niche in Indonesia is a sector Biotech (biotechnology) and life science. With such complex rules, not many new players want to enter this sector. A breath of fresh air came when, over the past year, startups began to appear that received investor support to try to give a new color. Call it startups like Nusantics, Nalagenetics, and Sensing Self.

DailySocial trying to understand what the opportunities, challenges, and future of biotechnology startups and life science at the moment. Furthermore, how does investor support respond to and capture the opportunities that exist.

A "niche" market

For Nalagenetics, one of East Ventures' portfolios, is a challenge in itself to start developing a business in Indonesia. This startup, founded by Jianjun Liu, Astrid Irwanto, Alexander Lezhava, and Levana Sani, is here to provide low-cost genetic testing services tailored to the Asian market. Its business penetration began in Singapore and Indonesia.

Co-founder of Nalagenetics Levana Sani disclose, one of the obstacles why startups like Nalagenetics have difficulty introducing their products to the target market is the lack of knowledge regarding genetic tests. The process that can help people adapt to the drugs they consume is already quite familiar in the United States and Singapore markets. For Indonesia, most do not understand further.

“Because this sometimes makes it difficult for us to approach hospitals and the government. "Even though most doctors already know about the services we provide, most of the related parties don't know anything further," said Levana.

Currently, Nalagenetics has received grants and collaborated with various related institutions in Indonesia, including FKUI, RSCM, and Litbangkes. Meanwhile in Singapore, the company has also collaborated with NUHS, NNI, GIS. The support received from investors helps the company to grow and develop even better.

"In my opinion, this sector is still very new, but more developed in several fields such as agriculture. The level of implementation also varies depending on the complexity of the technology involved. Most of the existing demand comes from private industry, not from the general public or government direction," said Levana.

According to CEO Nusantics Sharlini Eriza Putri, although the amount of support provided is not very large, the attention of investors and the government has helped Nusantics develop the business. As a technology-based startup, Nusantics focuses on developing and applying various genomics and microbiome research to fulfill a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Nusantics is also a portfolio of East Ventures.

"In my opinion, startup growth Biotech and life science like Nusantics and others are still in the early stages. The potential offered is quite large, but much of it is still poorly understood because the terms are still very unfamiliar, so someone has to start from somewhere and continue to contribute to building momentum."

The pandemic is driving acceleration

The pandemic has changed all the habits and lives of Indonesian people. This is good momentum for startups such as Nusantics and Nalagenetics. For them, pandemic conditions are ideal for conducting trials and accelerating acceleration, as well as a means to prove that the technology they offer is very relevant.

"The pandemic has raised considerable awareness among the public about at-home genetic testing," Levana said.

Sharlini expressed the same thing. Even though the pandemic has negatively affected their business, especially skin microbiome examination services, on the other hand, the company sees that the pandemic has also had a positive impact on pipeline new business, namely the first commercial local product for the COVID-19 PCR Test Kit.

Last April a similar product was also launched Sensing Self. As an independent test tool for Covid-19, this test tool is claimed to provide fast and accurate detection results because it uses enzyme analysis. Allows everyone to carry out testing in their own home, within 10 minutes, and at an affordable price (Rp. 160 thousand per unit).

"The presence of this independent test kit can help the government to provide access to tests that are safer, more practical and affordable. "When there are positive patients, they can immediately self-isolate or receive treatment at the hospital," said Sensing Self Co-Founder Santo Purnama.

This Singapore-based startup was founded by Santo and Shripal Gandhi. They both position Sensing Self as a company that focuses on creating independent health testing tools, so that everyone can detect their own health and get treatment at the earliest possible stage.

Investor support

According to Tania Shanny Lestari from OpenSpace Ventures, this sector is still in its infancy in Indonesia, because the drug discovery process requires a lot of resources and research capabilities. However, with a population that naturally constitutes a large potential market, Indonesian biotechnology startups can take a greater role in developing clinical trials with (foreign) pharmaceutical companies. This partnership with foreign pharmaceutical companies will gradually build Indonesia's biotechnology capabilities.

"To facilitate clinical trials, the availability of structured Electronic Medical Records (EMR) is very important. This is enablers that will enable biotechnology companies/ life science have a larger, more comprehensive data set to work with. "This could be a direct opportunity to work in the health technology field," said Tania.

As an investor, Tania sees a big opportunity to target this field. Now is the right time for Indonesian startups to build medical records digital health which will become the infrastructure for development in the field of biotechnology and life science in Indonesia.

"As we have seen in the last five years, two countries in Asia, namely China and Korea, have emerged as global players in the fields of biotechnology and life science. This is a sector that has traditionally been dominated by US, European and Japanese companies with global companies such as Amgen, GSK and Takeda. Startups in this sector have also recently found their way to becoming listed companies, such as Vir Biotechnology, which is backed by Softbank and the Gates Foundation," said Tania.

Meanwhile, according to Sr. Vertex Ventures Executive Director Gary Khoeng, there are several reasons why not many investors are interested in investing capital in targeted startups Biotech and life sciences, in addition to the complexity and breadth of this field.

Long-term investment is needed to conduct research and make products that are accepted by the public.

"Ultimately biotechnology solutions and research usually have time gestation which took a very long time due to research and trials. For example, by new treatments for widespread diseases or developing new vaccines. "Based on existing payments and funding, it must be ensured that the company can survive and also have a clear final plan."

Sebagai venture capital, Vertex Ventures sees great potential for investing in startups in this category. One of the company's supports is through the Vertex Healthcare Fund which focuses on startups that offer biotechnology solutions.

"This funding originates from Singapore but has been moved to the United States due to the fact that most of the biotech opportunities are in the US compared to other countries. Although this sector is quite behind and moving slowly compared to other sectors, it has huge opportunities that have not been exploited by truly successful startups. really have the enthusiasm and ability to operate in this field," said Gary.