WHO expands global biomanufacturing workforce network to strengthen equitable access and health security

Geneva, 29 April 2026, The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated a network of regional training centres for biomanufacturing across all six WHO regions, marking a major step forward in strengthening the global workforce needed to produce vaccines, biotherapeutics and other biological products.

As global efforts continue to expand manufacturing infrastructure and advance technology transfer, WHO is placing equal emphasis on the people and systems required to make these investments sustainable and impactful.

The designation follows a rigorous global selection process conducted through two calls for expressions of interest and forms part of the WHO Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Initiative established in 2023. This flagship effort addresses critical skills gaps across the biomanufacturing value chain, enabling countries to translate technological advances into sustainable local production.

"Building a skilled biomanufacturing workforce is fundamental to advancing equitable access to health products and strengthening global health security. By designating regional training centres across all WHO regions, we are investing in people and systems that enable countries not only to produce quality-assured essential health technologies, but to sustain and scale them," said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems, Access and Data. "This network reflects a strategic shift towards more resilient, geographically diversified manufacturing capacity, grounded in science and collaboration."

A global network with regional impact

The newly designated regional training centres will operate as part of a coordinated global network, delivering context-specific training aligned with regional priorities, regulatory environments and languages. By partnering with academia and industry, they will expand access to training, strengthen regional expertise and foster collaboration across countries, supporting the development of a skilled and sustainable workforce. While operating independently, they will work in close collaboration with WHO under agreed frameworks to ensure quality, alignment and accountability.

The selected institutions are:

• African Region: Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal; Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa
• Region of the Americas: Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Brazil
• South-East Asia Region: Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, India
• European Region: National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training, Ireland
• Eastern Mediterranean Region: Center for Continuing Professional Development, Egyptian Drug Authority, Egypt Western Pacific Region: Peking University, China

These centres will complement the Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing (GTH- B), established in 2022 in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea. The Global Hub delivers standardized training programmes that combine hands-on experience and classroom-based learning, while also supporting the WHO initiative through training-of-trainers programmes.

A cornerstone of health equity and preparedness

The WHO Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Initiative directly supports the implementation of World Health Assembly resolution WHA74.6 on strengthening local production of medicines and other health technologies.

By investing in workforce development, WHO is helping to address longstanding inequities in access to health products and to ensure that all countries are better equipped to respond rapidly and effectively to future health emergencies.

As global health systems move from crisis response to long-term resilience, building a skilled and geographically distributed biomanufacturing workforce is emerging as a cornerstone of pandemic preparedness and health security.

Notes to editors

About the WHO Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Initiative
Launched in 2023, the initiative is coordinated by WHO's Product Policies, Access and Manufacturing Support (PAM) Unit within the Department of Medicines and Health Products Policies and Standards, part of the Health Systems, Access and Data division, and is implemented in collaboration with the WHO Academy and the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea.

The initiative adopts a comprehensive, end-to-end approach to capacity-building across the biomanufacturing value chain, including:

• research and development interfaces and technology transfer readiness,
• upstream and downstream bioprocessing,
• quality management systems and good manufacturing practices,
• regulatory science and compliance,
• Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC),
• clinical development and production scale-up.