South Korea-based International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Baylor College of Medicin, a health science university and a Texas (US) nonprofit corporation, and the Regional Center for Innovation in Vaccines and Biopharmaceuticals (CRIVB) AIP, a research and development centre and product development laboratory established by the government of Panama (Central America), have announced a new collaborative relationship to pursue shared global health goals through biopharmaceutical research and training.

With the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the three organisations aim to strengthen capabilities in the vaccine sciences and the biopharmaceutical research & development industry in Panama and the greater Latin America region.

Through training and other workforce development programmes, highlighting key aspects of the biotechnology continuum such as technological transfers, international regulatory requirements, and vaccine product development and manufacturing, the partners look forward to bolstering a holistic and sustainable bio-industry ecosystem in Panama and the region.

Dr Eduardo Ortega Barría, national secretary of the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation (Senacyt) of Panama, said: “This tripartite agreement between the International Vaccine Institute, Baylor College of Medicine and the Regional Center for Innovation in Vaccines and Biopharmaceuticals brings us closer to the objective of researching, developing and producing vaccines of interest to public health in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also opens the door for the training of Panamanian scientists in high-tech centres in Korea and the United States of America.”