Yogyakarta, 12 February 2026 — A student team from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), has once again achieved excellence at Pharmanova ITB 2025/2026 by developing an innovative biopharmaceutical concept titled “BioBestin.” This innovation presents an integrated upstream engineering production strategy for IgG4 monoclonal antibodies, designed to support the availability of more effective and sustainable cancer therapies in Indonesia.
The team, known as the AZIK team, consists of Azalia Naida Shafa (chair), Aziza Syoleh, and Ika Pratiwi, under the guidance of Prof. Dr.rer.nat. apt. Adam Hermawan, M.Sc. In the BioBestin project, they developed a Quality by Design (QbD)-based approach that integrates CHO cell expression system engineering, gene design optimization, and enhanced protein folding capacity in the endoplasmic reticulum. Furthermore, the team applied metabolic engineering to improve culture stability and the production efficiency of the biosimilar antibodies.
The BioBestin innovation specifically focuses on the development of immunotherapy antibodies targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway as a precision approach in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) therapy. Through a comprehensive upstream strategy, this innovation is directed toward producing antibodies with high monomer dominance and low aggregates. This ensures quality consistency that meets industrial-scale biosimilar development standards while maintaining more efficient production costs.
The participation of the UGM Faculty of Pharmacy student team reflects the institution’s commitment to promoting translational research and health technology innovation based on molecular science. BioBestin is expected to be a fundamental step in developing a biosimilar antibody production platform relevant to clinical needs and the modern pharmaceutical industry. Directly, this project supports the achievement of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) by providing more affordable cancer therapies, and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) by fostering national pharmaceutical industry independence through mastery of advanced genetic engineering technology.
