With support from Ireland’s NIBRT and bioprocess vendor Cytiva, the Guangzhou Bioprocess Academy has begun training the next generation of biopharma talent in China.

In December 2019, this publication reported that a combined $10 million investment from bioprocess vendor Cytiva (then known as GE Healthcare Life Sciences) and Guangzhou Development District government was being used to establish a biomanufacturing training center in the Guangdong province in China.

Ten months on and the center, known as the Guangzhou Bioprocess Academy, has opened its doors with intentions to train upwards of 1,000 people each year to support China’s burgeoning biologics industry.

Image: iStock/JulyVelchev

The training curriculum will be provided by Ireland’s National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT). NIBRT opened its doors in 2011 through €57 million ($67 million) of government funding with the intention to strengthen Ireland’s expertise in drug making and help transition the workforce from small molecule to biologics manufacture.

The center now trains over 4,000 people a year from its site in Dublin and has been replicating its business globally. The Jefferson Institute for Bioprocessing (JIB) near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is somewhat of a franchise of the Ireland institute, being supported by NIBRT’s curriculum and training program. A similar collaboration is in place at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia where a bioprocessing training-GMP Lite Facility opened its doors in July. The Guangzhou Bioprocess Academy (GBA) follows a similar model.

“As the demand for the highly skilled biologics workforce continues to increase across the globe, we are delighted to partner with GBA to ensure that the NIBRT curriculum will now be available to clients in China,” NIBRT CEO, Darrin Morrissey, said in a statement. “We look forward to GBA joining our Global Partner Program and to strengthening the relationship with the Chinese biologics industry.”