Saturday (25/7/2020) at 09.00 – 12.00 WIB, a bold seminar with the theme “Development of Drugs from Natural Resources, and Some Important Aspects of Validation Methods” took place. This event is organized by Masters Program (Master of Pharmacy) and Doctoral Program (Doctoral of Pharmacy) for all majors via online via zoom and live facebook.

This online seminar invited two speakers, namely Prof.Dr.rer.nat.apt. AM Gunawan Indrayanto (Professor of Pharmacy Universitas Airlangga) and Dr.rer.nat. apt. Chaidir (Lecturer of Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Pancasila).

The first resource person, Prof.Dr.rer.nat.apt. AM Gunawan Indrayanto, discussed the topic of validation of analytical methods in drug discovery and development (PPO). He also explained the need to prioritize other important aspects in addition to the validation aspect in the development of drugs from natural ingredients, such as paying more attention to the selective index of toxic concentrations to effective levels or effective concentrations. If the toxic concentration is higher than the effective concentration then the drug should be considered for development. However, if the selective index is low, the development of the drug needs to be reconsidered very carefully.

Furthermore, the second resource person is Dr.rer.nat. apt. Chair. This senior researcher from natural ingredients explained that drug discovery and development (PPO) in Indonesia still requires a long and expensive process. According to him, Indonesia can develop a research contract industry as a very important initial stage in developing the drug raw material industry.

Therefore, in line with what Prof. Gunawan previously said, collaboration is important to develop drugs. Collaboration can be done with other institutions, agencies, or institutions to conduct research on Indonesia’s natural wealth, especially in the development of drug candidates from natural ingredients.

The event moderated by Dr.rer.nat.apt. Deni Rahmat (Master of Pharmacy Lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Pancasila University) was held at 09.00-12.00 WIB. Several participants seemed enthusiastic about asking questions to the two speakers through the chat service on the zoom application.

The complete video regarding this online seminar can be seen on the following official youtube channel of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Pancasila.