Incheon Opens Global Bio Training Center

Guests attending the opening ceremony for the Global Bio Campus Practical Training Center pose for a commemorative photo in the first-floor lobby of the SL Vigen Industry-Academic Cooperation Center at Yonsei University International Campus.(Photo=IFEZ) Four years after the Republic of Korea was designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a "Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing (GTH-B)," a dedicated practical training base has been established in Songdo, Incheon. The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority held an opening ceremony for the Global Bio Campus Practical Training Center at Yonsei University International Campus in Songdo on Oct. 20. The event was organized to share the results of efforts to build educational infrastructure that have been pursued since Korea was selected as a WHO training hub in February 2022. About 30 officials attended and toured the facility, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Minister of Health and Welfare Chung Eun-kyung, and Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority Commissioner Kim Jong-cheol. Located on the second floor of the SL Vigen Industry-Academic Cooperation Center at Yonsei University International Campus, the practical training center has a total floor area of about 2,492㎡. Of that, 1,719㎡ is dedicated exclusively to hands-on training space, and the center is equipped with specialized facilities for microbial cultivation, purification, and analysis, as well as quality control (QA/QC) training. The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority plans to gradually expand equipment in the areas of production processes and quality control by 2028 to complete a practice-based training foundation covering the entire manufacturing process for vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. The Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing project is structured around a support foundation in Songdo, with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and network campuses in five regions nationwide — Songdo, Siheung, Osong, Andong, and Hwasun — working in cooperation. Training courses that had previously focused on theory will be further strengthened by linkage with on-site practical training following the opening of this new center. To ensure the stable operation of the Global Bio Campus, the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority will provide a total of KRW 9.0 billion ($6.66 million) from 2024 to 2028. Separately from national funds invested in building facilities and equipment, it is continuing financial and administrative support in cooperation with the International Vaccine Institute and Yonsei University's K-NIBRT so that education and training can proceed effectively. Kim Jong-cheol, Commissioner of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority, said the opening of the practical training center would serve as an important opportunity for Songdo to leap forward as an international hub for fostering bio industry talent, adding that the authority would do its utmost to support international cooperation projects based on Songdo's excellent bio infrastructure and contribute to enhancing global health security.