Jakarta, October 7th 2023. Universitas Indonesia (UI) inaugurated Prof. Dr. Melva Louisa, S.Si, M.Biomed., as Permanent Professor at the Faculty of Medicine (FK) in the field of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, this morning (Saturday, 7/10). On this occasion, she read her inauguration speech entitled “The Role of Translational Pharmacology in the Development of New Drugs: Its Role and Utilization in Realizing National Drug Independence” in the FKUI IMERI Hall, UI Salemba Campus. According to her, drug independence is an important aspect in ensuring the availability and accessibility of drugs for the people of a country.
In Indonesia, one of the main problems is dependence on drug imports. High domestic drug consumption needs to be accompanied by high domestic drug production capacity as well.
“In order to realize national drug independence, we need to optimize the role of Translational Pharmacology in the development of new drugs. Translational Pharmacology is the part of Pharmacology that deals with the application of molecular and preclinical research results to clinical applications. Translational Pharmacology aims to reduce the failure rate of the drug development process, thereby reducing the costs and time required to bring new drugs to the market,” said Prof. Melva, in the inauguration ceremony led by Rector of UI Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D., and broadcasted live via the Universitas Indonesia YouTube channel and UI TV.
She further said that in terms of optimizing new drug candidates, translational pharmacology can help identify active compounds from various sources. Research at the Department of Pharmacology, FKUI, together with students and collaborators, has studied several drug candidates from natural ingredients, including alpha mangostin, curcumin, 6-gingerol, Moringa oleifera (moringa) extract and Carthamus tinctorius (kasumba turate) extract. This research is aimed at increasing the therapeutic effect or reducing the side effects of standard drugs.
Apart from drug candidates, Prof. Melva said that determining appropriate biomarkers is very important in supporting the success of a clinical trial, because the results are objective. “For example, our research has examined the benefits of KIM-1 and NGAL as better safety markers than urea and creatinine as markers of early stage kidney damage,” said Prof. Melva.
The next role of Translational Pharmacology is the optimization of personalized medicine, which is an innovative approach that uses genomic information, environmental influences, and lifestyle to guide patient treatment management. Examples of drug use that require certain genetic profile information are primaquine, 6-mercaptopurine and clopidogrel, and many more.
However, there are still many challenges in implementing personalized medicine, especially in relation to approval from regulators, health workers, insurance companies, and patients. Even though the reality is that personalized medicine is better than conventional medicine, its implementation will require investment in certain equipment, which causes costs to be expensive. Therefore, research in Translational Pharmacology is expected to be able to answer whether genetic information is clinically meaningful, cost effective, and easy to apply. Apart from that, there is also a need for a drug development incubator office at universities, which bridges academics with industry, before finally transferring technology to the pharmaceutical industry.
The next challenge in personalized medicine is the lack of data on specific genetic variations in Indonesian society that can be used as a basis for decision making. Research on genetic variation is carried out by many researchers with relatively small sample sizes, and it cannot represent Indonesia’s diverse population. It is necessary to form a national consortium on genetic variations whose task is to make recommendations regarding gene-drug interactions, based on specific Indonesian data.
In terms of education, a comprehensive program is needed for students from undergraduate and postgraduate programs, which introduces the need for expertise for new drug development, taking into account input from the entire drug development ecosystem. “With the right strategy and investment, strategic partnerships between academics, government, industry, and society, Indonesia will certainly be able to achieve health independence, specifically drug independence,” said Prof. Melva. During the inauguration, Plt. of The Director of Drug Registration at the Indonesian Food and Drug Supervisory Agency Dra. Herawati, Apt, M. Biomed.; Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Pancasila University, Prof. Dr. apt. Syamsudin, M. Biomed.; and two Professors of Faculty of Medicine Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Prof. Dr. Mustofa, Apt, M.Kes., and Prof. Dr. Dra. Erna Kristin, Apt, M.Si. were present
Prof. Melva completed her Bachelor of Science education at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) UI in 1999. Still at the same campus, in 2000 she succeeded in obtaining a Pharmacist degree. Afterwards, she continued and completed her master’s and doctoral studies at FKUI in the field of Biomedical Sciences in 2006 and 2012. During 2023, Prof. Melva has published several scientific publications, among them entitled Nanocurcumin preserves kidney function and haematology parameters in DMBA-induced ovarian cancer treated with cisplatin via its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effect in rats; Moringa oleifera Leaves Extract Ameliorates Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity via Its Mitochondrial Biogenesis Modulatory Activity in Rats; and Attenuation of cisplatin-induced hepatotoxicity by nanocurcumin through modulation of antioxidative and anti-inflammatory pathways.
