Institute to run training program on vaccines and biologics development and manufacturing and GxP for 450 trainees from LMICs and Korea

SEOUL, REPUBLIC OF KOREA, February 16, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) has been designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), Republic of Korea as the operator of 2022 Global Bio-Intensive Training Courses’ to provide workforce training in vaccine and biologics R&D and manufacturing for students from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and Korea.

The training courses, the first of its kind global program supported by the Government of Korea, aim to provide essential, practical knowledge through an intensive short-term program designed to strengthen students' professional capacity. Accordingly, the new program will include offline and online courses on biologics development and manufacturing and on standard practice (GxP), plus onsite training and consultation.

“IVI is thrilled to be selected as the operator of 2022 Global Bio-Intensive Training Courses.” said Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI. “We believe the selection is recognition by our host country of IVI’s robust capability and track record in training the global workforce in the vaccine and biologics industries. IVI, an international organization headquartered in Korea, is committed to capacity building in vaccine and biologics development and manufacturing for countries around the world, and we hope to achieve synergy with Korea’s advanced biomanufacturing sector to ensure the success of this training program.”

The new training program, funded with a 4.3 billion-won grant from MOHW, will provide 450 trainees (including 300 from LMICs) with comprehensive education designed to equip them with necessary skills in the development and production of biopharmaceuticals. Online courses will also be made available to additional trainees. IVI will help trainees gain and deepen practical knowledge and skills to ensure that they will be prepared to manage development and production processes, biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, and biosafety through a mix of professional training courses offline and online. It will also offer customized onsite training and consultation to vaccine and biotechnology companies in LMICs to enable them to produce biopharmaceuticals in compliance with international regulatory standards.

“IVI is a center of excellence in the global vaccine enterprise, and is believed to be uniquely qualified to run this program due to its ample experience and know-how in training and capacity building in vaccines and biologics,” said Lee Kang-ho, head of the Global K-Vaccine Hub Taskforce at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “MOHW is pleased to partner with IVI in our concerted efforts to strengthen LMICs’ critical capability in development and manufacturing of vaccines and biologics, and to increase contributions to global public health.”

COVID-19 has illustrated the global bioindustry’s capability to innovate new diagnostics in weeks, new drugs and monoclonal antibodies in months, and new vaccines within a year after the identification of the pathogen. However, the world has been not as efficient in the scale-up of manufacturing and the equitable distribution of innovative products particularly in the developing world, which underscores the urgent need for LMICs to boost their biomanufacturing capabilities.

“The core of a competitive bio industry anywhere is a well-trained, adaptable workforce, innovative R&D, and efficient, high-quality manufacturing,” said Alice Lee, program lead of the 2022 Global Bio-Intensive Training Courses. “With partners in Korea and worldwide, we will provide quality training courses to biomanufacturing staff for LMICs interested in developing their own biomanufacturing capacity, as well as for Korea.”

As the world’s only international organization devoted exclusively to vaccines for global public health, IVI is the only international organization to have developed and tech-transferred WHO prequalified vaccines to developing country vaccine manufacturers. Since its inception in 1997, IVI has trained manufacturing staff, companies, and governments in the basics of vaccine development and manufacturing through: (1) an annual vaccinology course; (2) transfer of manufacturing technology for vaccines (cholera, typhoid fever, etc); (3) building networked R&D capacity at sites in the global south including Africa; (4) acceleration of vaccine implementation through effectiveness trials, cost benefit analyses, and strengthening of national immunization technical advisory groups (NITAGs) in countries worldwide.

IVI’s annual Vaccinology Course has trained more than 1,300 professionals through a week-long program from 2000 to 2019. After skipping the 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 20th course conducted in 2021 brought together over 7,000 trainees and 27 faculty members for 5 days of online lectures to address a range of topics on vaccines with a focus on COVID-19.

In addition, IVI has provided training and technical assistance to developing country research partners in areas ranging from good clinical practice to infectious disease surveillance and reporting. The institute established an immune monitoring laboratory in India for vaccine evaluation studies, which was recognized by WHO-TDR and served as a training ground for Indian scientists in Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP). It has also established IVI Collaborating Centers in different countries of Africa and South Asia, while continuously expanding its collaborative network with more than 170 partners worldwide.

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About the International Vaccine Institute
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a nonprofit inter-governmental organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, IVI was the first international organization hosted by Korea. IVI has 37 countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) on its treaty, including Korea, Sweden, India, and Finland as state funders.

Our mandate is to make vaccines available and accessible for the world’s most vulnerable people. We focus on infectious diseases of global health importance such as cholera, typhoid, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, Group A Strep, Hepatitis A, HPV, TB, HIV, MERS, COVID-19, as well as antimicrobial resistance. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int

Vanessa Lee
International Vaccine Institute
+82 2-881-1510
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