Bangladesh will receive mRNA technology from WHO training hub

COVID-19 vaccines based on messenger RNA or mRNA and made in Bangladesh will no longer be a distant dream as the country is set to receive the technology from a global training hub set up by the World Health Organization.

The UN agency disclosed the development in a statement announcing the launch of the second global biomanufacturing training hub in South Korea on Wednesday.    

The hubs, with the first one being in South Africa, will serve all low- and middle-income countries wishing to produce biologicals, such as vaccines, insulin, monoclonal antibodies and cancer treatments.

Besides Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Serbia and Vietnam will also receive support from the first hub that the WHO described as a successful initiative.

Bangladesh and the four other countries were vetted by a group of experts after they proved that they had the capacity to absorb the technology and, with targeted training, move to production stage relatively quickly, the WHO said.

Argentina and Brazil were the first countries from the region of the Americas to receive mRNA technology from the global hub in South Africa, joining the initiative in September 2021.

Companies from those countries are already receiving training from the technology transfer hub.

In South Korea, the 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 facility will provide technical and hands-on training on operational and good manufacturing practice requirements and will complement specific trainings developed by the mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa.

The WHO Academy will work with the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare to develop a comprehensive curriculum on general biomanufacturing.

“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.”

The WHO has set up the two training hubs to transfer the technology used for producing strong COVID-19 vaccine amid a shortage in low- and middle-income countries.

Numerous countries responded to the call for expressions of interest from the technology transfer hub in late 2021.

The WHO  said it will provide support to all of the respondents but is currently prioritising countries that do not have mRNA technology but already have some biomanufacturing infrastructure and capacity.

WHO will enter into discussions with other interested countries and other mRNA technology recipients will be announced in the coming months.