• More than 180 participants from over 40 countries complete ‘2023 Introductory Course for Biologics Development and Manufacturing’ to receive the certificate
• East African Community Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management (EAC RCE-VIHSCM) supported 15 trainees for travel from EAC member states to attend the course

The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) successfully completed the ‘2023 Introductory Course for Biologics Development and Manufacturing’ on June 30 and awarded the certificate to more than 180 trainees from over 40 countries including 27 from Korea.

The course, hosted by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and organized by IVI, took place at Seoul National University Siheung Campus in Gyeonggi Province from June 19-30 to help strengthen LMICs’ capabilities in local production of vaccines and biologics, address vaccine inequity, and enhance pandemic preparedness. The two-week course is part of the Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing (GTH-B) that IVI has been implementing in collaboration with MOHW since last year.

From theory to practice: covering the entire vaccine cycle

The trainees in the training program consisted primarily of personnel involved in vaccine manufacturing and officials from governments and public organizations of more than 40 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). All students participated in the course free of charge (excluding travel). Among the trainees from Korea were employees from vaccine and biopharmaceutical companies, as well as graduate students specializing in related fields.

During the program, the trainees acquired the skills and expertise necessary for quality biomanufacturing, which is crucial for addressing vaccine inequity and future infectious disease threats. They received comprehensive education on the entire cycle of vaccine development, production, regulatory process, and use.

Furthermore, the trainees had the opportunity to visit in person state-of-the-art manufacturing and research and development (R&D) facilities for vaccines and pharmaceuticals, as well as clinical trial sites across Korea. This allowed them to witness firsthand the manufacturing and R&D procedures at 15 prominent Korean companies and organizations. The list includes Samsung Biologics, LG Chem, Genexine, GC Biopharma, Sartorius Korea, Thermo Fisher Scientific and more. They also took part in a Mini Convention on June 27, which offered a networking opportunity with over 30 leading companies and organizations in the Korean bioindustry.

15 trainees from East African Community member states granted a full travel scholarship

Particularly notable is that the East African Community Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management (EAC RCE-VIHSCM) based in Rwanda provided travel scholarships to a total of 15 eligible trainees from EAC member states to attend this much needed course for local and regional biomanufacturing. The 15 trainees were selected based on a quota system to ensure equitable representation of participants from EAC member states with a major focus on public servants. They were selected by IVI’s selection team strictly based on merit to attend the training completely free of charge. Among these 15 participants are government officials working in regulatory authorities (12 persons) and academic (2 persons) or research institutions (1 person).

“The EAC RCE-VIHSCM is a member of Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) talent development work stream and is therefore dedicated to taking part in the KPI of having 12,000 FTEs by 2040 who will be involved in uplifting local vaccine manufacturing in Africa from 1% to 60 % by 2040. In addition, the EAC RCE-VIHSCM has signed an MoU with IVI in April 2023 to facilitate talent development in vaccine and biologics manufacturing. With this MoU, the sponsorship decision was therefore easy to make.” said Dr. Jean Baptiste Nyandwi, Lecturer, Researcher and Training Coordinator at the EAC RCE-VIHSCM.

“This is EAC RCE-VIHSCM’s first scholarship for a GTH-B course; we hope to expand the scholarship award to 30-40 trainees for each GTH-B course in the future.” Dr. Nyandwi went on to say that IVI’s mission of ‘discovering, developing and delivering safe, effective and affordable vaccines for global public health’ resonated with the participants and that he hopes to apply this mission to entities in the EAC region during vaccine-related training back in Africa.

Dr. Rukia Mng’ombe, a recipient of the scholarship and drug & vaccine registration official at the Tanzanian Medicine & Medical Device Authority, said she hopes to encourage the local manufacturers on expanding manufacturing capacity once she returns to Tanzania. “Tanzania doesn’t have biomedical manufacturing facilities for drugs and vaccines for human. I found the manufacturing facility visit most interesting as I have never been to a manufacturing facility before,” she said.

“This training responds to the different needs; the knowledge gained will be shared with colleagues during the implementation of institutional training plans and strengthening of our regulatory authorities regarding vaccines regulation to ensure safe and effective vaccines licensure and use in our countries,” Dr. Mng’ombe said. “The GTH-B course is very well-organized, and I am thankful to IVI for arranging the entire course. My dreams have come true, and this has been a motivation for me throughout the course.”

Dr. Alphonse Ndayambaje, another recipient of the scholarship as Clinical Trial Analyst at the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA), said “Our country’s aim is to make Rwanda a vaccine manufacturing hub. I will share what I learned during the course with my colleagues once I gets back to Rwanda so as to apply the lessons learned to the Rwanda FDA’s own training course.”

Stay engaged for GxP Course

To this end, IVI will conduct the ‘Introductory Course for Standard Practice (GxP Course)’ this fall as the fourth in the GTH-B series. This three-week course will provide professional training on international standards of quality for vaccine and biomedical product development and manufacturing known as ‘Good Clinical, Manufacturing and Laboratory Practice (GCP, GMP, GLP – together GxP)’ and the basics of biosafety.

The trainees will include technicians, engineers, scientists, and managers in biomanufacturing, and others working in the field with related experience.

Find out more on the Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing here. IVI thanks the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare for supporting GTH-B.

by Cindy Park

Last updated June 30, 2023