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Trainees participate in a hands-on session of a vaccine bio-manufacturing course organized by the Asia Development Bank and the E-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund (EAKPF) at Yonsei University International Campus, located in Songdo, Incheon, July 21. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin

Trainees from developing countries invited for 8-week vaccine manufacturing course

By Lee Hyo-jin

Songdo, INCHEON ― The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of having a local manufacturing infrastructure for medical equipment and vaccines moving forward, and scientists have raised concerns about the increasing threat of new zoonotic diseases emerging amid continuing climate change and urbanization.

In particular, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that did not have timely access to vaccines, have realized that they must develop their own local manufacturing capacity in order to ensure sustainable and predictable supplies of vaccines, not only for the ongoing pandemic but also for future outbreaks.

However, one of the key barriers for them in facilitating local vaccine production is the lack of skilled workers.

Against this backdrop, Korea, a leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing country, has joined international initiatives to support such countries in fostering bio-manufacturing experts.

Trainees participate in a hands-on session of the vaccine bio-manufacturing course at the Korea National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (K-NIBRT) center at Yonsei University International Campus in Songdo, Incheon, July 21. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin

After it was designated as a global vaccine training hub by the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier in February, the Korean government launched several training courses in cooperation with international organizations.

One such course is currently taking place at the Korea National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (K-NIBRT) center at Yonsei University International Campus located in Songdo, Incheon, some 40 kilometers west of Seoul.

The K-NIBRT is a Korean version of the National Institute of Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT), a leading training and education curriculum in biopharmaceutical manufacturing based in Ireland.

Funded by the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and the E-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund, (EAKPF) a trust fund initiated by the Korean government, 30 trainees from a dozen different Asian countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Cambodia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam entered the country in early June to take part in an 8-week training course on vaccine manufacturing.

On July 21, inside the newly-constructed training facility in Songdo, a dozen trainees wearing white lab coats were seen gathered enthusiastically around a large, stainless steel fermenter at a lab. At another lab across the corridor, another group of trainees were testing the vaccine they had made to verify its purity.

"The trainees were selected based on their academic or professional qualifications, as well as English skills, as all sessions are conducted in English. They are highly skilled people who were nominated by their own governments," said Roh Yoon-suk, the professor in charge of the K-NIBRT project, as she showed reporters around the facility.

During the first three weeks, the participants were offered didactic training where they were given a basic understanding of all major vaccine processes, including protein subunit vaccines, vectored vaccines and mRNA vaccines.

Trainees participate in a practical session of the vaccine bio-manufacturing course at the Korea National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (K-NIBRT) center at Yonsei University International Campus in Songdo, Incheon, July 21. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin

"And after completing the 3-week theoretical training, we have begun a 5-week hands-on training course that ranges from fermentation to utilities and packaging. The lab course is focused primarily on mRNA vaccines, which is a platform that can be used to produce other biologics too," said Roh.

She also said that a second batch of trainees is scheduled to join the same program in the latter half of the year.

"We are hopeful that this program will allow trainees to grow into professionals who can be instantly deployed at vaccine manufacturing sites in their home countries," she said.

Ready to contribute to vaccine production in home countries

The trainees didn't seem to find the intensive 8-week course tough at all. Instead, they were eager to get the most out of it and bring back the skills and knowledge they've obtained here to their home countries.

"I will use the knowledge and skills I've learned here to help strengthen the vaccine manufacturing in my country," Mayan Lumandas, a Filipina doctor specializing in pediatric infectious diseases, told reporters.

"Currently, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, where I work, is producing antivenom for snakebites, which has the requirement of being species-specific. So I'll start with reviewing the current process for the antivenom production and see how I can apply what I learned from the course to improve the process," she explained.

"Then I'll also look into how we can start producing other vaccines such as COVID-19, hexavalent and pneumococcal vaccines."

Muhammed Shahabuddin, who works at a state-run pharmaceutical company in Bangladesh, spoke about the poor vaccine coverage in his country.

"Our country suffered a lot from the pandemic as vaccines were not available in a timely manner. It wasn't because we didn't have money, but more because we didn't have any vaccine biopharma industry. We are still importing vaccines from overseas," he said.

Shahabuddin found it very helpful that the training course was not limited to theoretical training only, but also included practical training and visits to local biomanufacturing companies where he learned about formulation development.

"After realizing the importance of establishing local vaccine bio-manufacturing to prevent the next pandemics, our government initiated the development of local vaccine producers. However, it was quite challenging for us, since we were mostly involved in research, with limited in-depth manufacturing experience," said Muzaffar Muminov, a microbiology researcher at the Center for Advanced Technologies in Uzbekistan.

In that sense, the training course offered by the Korean government was a great opportunity, he said.

"My ultimate goal upon returning is to contribute to the establishment of vaccine production technologies and further development of this sphere in Uzbekistan, and to share my experience and knowledge with the scientific community," Muminov added.

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