Mumbai, February 23

Close on the heels of the mRNA vaccine tech-transfer hub in Africa, theWorld Health Organization, the Republic of Korea and the WHO Academy, have announced a global biomanufacturing training hub to serve low- and middle-income countries looking to produce biologicals, such as vaccines, insulin, monoclonal antibodies and cancer treatments.

The Korean government has offered a large facility outside Seoul that is already carrying out biomanufacturing training for companies based in the country, and will now expand its operations to accommodate trainees from other countries, the WHO said. The facility will provide technical and hands-on training on operational and good manufacturing practices, and will complement specific training developed by the mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa, it said. Further, a curriculum on general biomanufacturing would also be on the anvil, they added.

Meanwhile, the global mRNA hub in South Africa will support five more countries, the WHO said, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Serbia and Vietnam. These countries were vetted by a group of experts and proved that they had the capacity to absorb the technology and, with targeted training, move to production stage relatively quickly, it added.

Just days ago, six African countries were selected to receive the mRNA tech from the hub. They included Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.

Argentina and Brazil were the first countries from the American region to receive mRNA technology from the South Africa hub, joining the initiative in September 2021. Companies from those countries are already receiving training from the technology transfer hub. 

“One of the key barriers to successful technology transfer in low- and middle-income countries is the lack of a skilled workforce and weak regulatory systems,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Building those skills will ensure that they can manufacture the health products they need at a good quality standard so that they no longer have to wait at the end of the queue.”

Separately, the WHO was also intensifying its Global Benchmarking Tool, an instrument that assesses the maturity level of regulatory authorities. The tool will serve as the main parameter for WHO to include national regulators in the WHO-listed Authorities list. Another aim is to build a network of regional centres of excellence that will act as advisers and guides for countries with weaker regulatory systems, it said.

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