Monday, June 19, 2023 – Friday, June 30, 2023

Republic of Korea

Background

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face significant inequity in terms of access to vaccines and other biologics and are making efforts to establish biological manufacturing in their regions. Establishing such manufacturing capacity, through bilateral technology transfer or through local R&D efforts is frequently hampered by the lack of a workforce trained in biomanufacturing.

To address this gap and to build biomanufacturing capacity in LMICs, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea (MoHWK) are working towards establishing the first of its kind Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing (GTH-B).

The hub is mandated to provide training in manufacturing of high-quality vaccines and biologics in an industrial setting to resolve inequality in access to vaccines and biologics worldwide by expanding manufacturing capacity in LMICs.

In 2022, two training courses, an introductory course for biologics development & manufacturing as well as an introductory course for global standards were organized by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Seoul, Republic of Korea for about 330 participants from more than 30 LMICs.

For the second year, the Republic of Korea in agreement with WHO is organizing a new training operated by IVI focusing on introduction to biologics development & manufacturing in June 2023 for 120 trainees from LMICs.

Expected impact

At the end of the training, all participants will be equipped with the knowledge and skills required to operate in a biomanufacturing facility based on the basic and essential theories. By investing in workforce development, the hub will support ongoing initiatives in local bioproduction and will strengthen knowledge sharing between manufacturers. A tentative course agenda is available here.

About the Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing (GTH-B)

One of the important resource gaps in enabling local vaccine manufacturing is the availability of skilled, trained personnel in this highly technologically demanding field. To support countries that seek to fill this gap, the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) established the Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing (GTH-B) with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), including WHO Academy.

These training courses are the first of their kind supported by the Government of Korea and administered by IVI to provide essential, practical knowledge through an intensive short-term program designed to strengthen professional capacity.

Learn more about past courses offered by GTH-B here.