• 3-week course to train 148 trainees from over 40 LMICs and 30 Koreans at Nest Hotel in Incheon, and Seoul National University’s Siheung Campus from October 30
• Part of Korea’s ‘ Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing’ program, the training seeks to foster skilled vaccine and bio manufacturing personnel by combining didactic lectures and practical training
• PAVM, EAC RCE-VIHSCM provide travel scholarships to 39 participants from Africa

October 30, 2023, SEOUL, Republic of Korea — The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is conducting the Introductory Course for Standard Practice (GxP Course) for a total of 180 participants, including 148 trainees from 44 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and 32 Koreans, for three weeks from October 30.

Hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea, and organized by IVI, the course is taking place at the Nest Hotel in Yeongjongdo, Incheon, and Seoul National University’s Siheung Campus. At the opening ceremony, IVI Director General Dr. Jerome Kim delivered a keynote lecture on “IVI and Proposal for the African Vaccine Alliance (AVA)” to address the need and efforts to support regional vaccine manufacturing in the continent on October 30. The course will be presented by a team of 17 experts from 8 institutions worldwide including IVI, the Hillelman Laboratories in Singapore, and the University of Texas at Austin.

The GxP course aims to address vaccine inequalities and strengthen the global response to infectious diseases by supporting LMICs in enhancing their capacities in quality management of biomanufacturing through human resources training. The course will educate the trainees on international standard of quality for vaccine and biomedical product development and manufacturing known as ’Good Clinical, Manufacturing and Laboratory Practice, and Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCP, GMP, GLP, GCLP – collectively GxP)’ and the basics of biosafety.

Trainees include professionals from companies and organizations involved in the development and production of biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines, therapeutics, and monoclonal antibodies in LMICs, as well as technical personnel from bio manufacturers and graduate students from Korea. The Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided travel scholarships to 24 trainees from African countries, and the East African Community Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management (EAC RCE-VIHSCM) based in Rwanda has supported another group of 15 trainees for travel.

The course will cover certification standards (GMP, etc.) for the entire production process, including production facilities, raw materials, manufacturing, and packaging in compliance with the stringent regulatory standards of the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. In addition to class lectures, the course will also include field visits to advanced vaccine and drug production facilities of leading biomanufacturers, providing trainees an opportunity to network with companies in Korea.

The course is part of the Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing (GTH-B) program, which IVI has been implementing for LMICs in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Welfare since last year. LMICs continue to face serious inequalities in access to vaccines and biopharmaceuticals and are endeavoring to establish a local biomanufacturing base in their countries.

In February last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated Korea as the GTH-B to empower LMICs to produce their own vaccines in a sustainable fashion by providing crucial biomanufacturing training, thereby easing global vaccine inequalities and boosting global pandemic preparedness. Subsequently, IVI was designated by MOHW as an operator of GTH-B courses, Korea’s flagship bio workforce training program.

In addition, the WHO designated South Africa as an ‘mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub’ last year to promote the expansion of local production of vaccines in different countries. However, countries’ efforts to build manufacturing capacity through bilateral technology transfer or local R&D are often hampered by a lack of trained and skilled workforces. To assist countries in overcoming this challenge, the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, with the support from the WHO, has established the GTH-B.

“Korea has an excellent biological training infrastructure combined with world-class companies boasting excellent biomanufacturing capabilities, and the government is committed to promoting the vaccine and bio industry, investing in R&D, and supporting LMICs,” said IVI Director General Dr. Jerome Kim. “In addition, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has established itself as a top-notch regulatory agency, making Korea an ideal environment as a training site for quality biomanufacturing management.”

Strengthening vaccine-related capacity in LMICs is a key priority of IVI’s mission. As the only international organization devoted to the discovery, development and delivery of vaccines for global health, IVI has experience and the necessary capabilities to provide quality training in vaccine R&D, technology transfer, biomanufacturing and capacity building. Since 2000, IVI has conducted 22 editions of its annual International Vaccinology Course, providing training to more than 5,000 professionals worldwide.

Building on this, IVI has run two editions of ‘Introductory Course for Biologics Development and Manufacturing’ last year and this year, and one ‘GxP course’ to provide GTH-B training to about 500 people in more than 40 countries, plus overseas on-site consulting and training in several countries including Bangladesh and South Africa.