• New state-of-the-art facility to serve as vital infrastructure for research collaboration to accelerate the development of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics
• Capable of sustainably and systematically preserving up to 4 million samples including pathogens and biospecimens

February 21, 2025, SEOUL, Republic of Korea  – The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) has opened its new Biorepository, a global center for biological resources, at its headquarters in Seoul. The new facility in the annex building of the IVI headquarters complex is expected to play a pivotal role in acquiring, preserving, and distributing pathogens and samples for research globally in support of IVI’s mission and contributing to the development of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics for global health.

The opening ceremony at IVI headquarters on February 21, 2025, was attended by Commissioner Dr. Youngmee Jee of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), and Dr. Hee Chang Jang, Director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases under KDCA’s National Institute of Health; IVI Director General Dr. Jerome Kim and other senior IVI staff; and representatives of contractors for the project.

The completion of the IVI Biorepository is timely and significant. As an international organization devoted to vaccine research for global public health, IVI is working in more than 50 countries worldwide, conducting extensive research including disease surveillance and clinical trials. In the process, the institute collects a growing volume of pathogens and biospecimens (currently about 210,000 samples in total) that require systematic preservation and management to support analysis and vaccine development efforts.

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the critical need for international collaboration and robust research and development capabilities in combating infectious diseases. Emerging threats such as monkeypox, Ebola, and Marburg pose the risk of future pandemics, with avian influenza jumping in cases in recent months, particularly in the United States. The IVI Biorepository will play a key role in addressing these challenges by ensuring the systematic management and effective utilization of vital biological resources.

Dr. Youngmee Jee, KDCA Commissioner, said, “Amid increasingly frequent waves of emerging infectious diseases, collecting, systematically preserving and utilizing pathogens and biomaterials have become more critical than ever. KDCA and IVI will further strengthen our collaboration in vaccine R&D and biomaterials to be better prepared to tackle future pandemics.”

The IVI Biorepository, built with funding support from the Government of Korea through KDCA, has the capacity to preserve 4 million samples in a facility of 1,256 square meters. The facility comes with advanced conservation rooms, including ultra-low freezers and liquid nitrogen tanks, tailored for human-derived pathogen and biospecimen storage, as well as a dedicated space for data collection, archiving and management.

Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, said, “IVI thanks the Republic of Korea for supporting the establishment of the Biorepository. The opening of this facility, which is vital to vaccine R&D, marks a major milestone in IVI’s preparedness and response to emerging infectious diseases and future pandemics, while reinforcing our commitment to combating the world’s neglected diseases.”

Specifically, the Biorepository will:

• Collect and systematically preserve a diverse range of pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi) and biospecimens (serum, plasma, blood cells) to support the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics,
• Serve as a high-value research infrastructure for the systematic management and application of critical biological resources, enabling IVI and its partners to rapidly analyze and respond to global health threats, and
• Strengthen international collaboration by facilitating the secure management and study of essential biological resources among IVI, countries, and global partners.

Dr. Manki Song, Deputy Director General of Science at IVI, said, “The Biorepository will serve as a hub for research collaboration between IVI, other research groups, and public health authorities worldwide including KDCA. By preserving vital biological resources in state-of-the-art facilities, IVI is further strengthening its role in pandemic preparedness and response efforts.”

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About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a non-profit international organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health.

IVI’s current portfolio includes vaccines at all stages of pre-clinical and clinical development for infectious diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, such as cholera, typhoid, chikungunya, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, hepatitis E, HPV, COVID-19, and more. IVI developed the world’s first low-cost oral cholera vaccine, pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO), and developed a new-generation typhoid conjugate vaccine that also achieved WHO prequalification in early 2024.

IVI is headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea with a Europe Regional Office in Sweden, an Africa Regional Office in Rwanda, a Country Office in Austria, and a Country and Project Office in Kenya. IVI additionally co-founded the Hong Kong Jockey Club Global Health Institute in Hong Kong and hosts Collaborating Centers in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. 42 countries and the WHO are members of IVI, and the governments of the Republic of Korea, Sweden, India, Finland, Austria, and Thailand provide state funding. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int.