Low- and middle-income countries 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 that is trained in biomanufacturing.

To address this gap and to build the biomanufacturing capacity of low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea established the first of its kind Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing (GTH-B).

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

Application deadline

Deadline for application to join the 3-week course is on 31 August. Attendees will be limited to just 200.

Participants from low- and middle-income countries and representatives from manufacturers identified as recipient of mRNA technology from the technology transfer initiative led by WHO and COVAX will be prioritized.

The course aims to equip participants with essential skills required to operate according to good biomanufacturing practices. This course will include didactic sessions on Good Laboratory Practice, Good Clinical Practice, Good Clinical Laboratory Practice, Good Manufacturing Practice, and biosafety.

The course is targeted at technicians, engineers or managers employed by an entity formally registered in low- and middle-income countries and currently involved in the production of bioproducts including vaccines, therapeutics, monoclonal antibodies, etc. 

All applications must be submitted online at https://ivionlinecampus.ivi.int/courses/ by 31 August 2022 17:00 (GMT).

More information is available on the International Vaccine Institute website.