- From September 4 to 19, a total of 471 students from grades 1 to 3 at Hwasun Jeil Middle School participated in the field trip program.

▲ Director Cho Min delivering a lecture

PCMO (Director: Cho Min, hereafter referred to as the Center) announced that it successfully concluded a one-day pharmaceutical plant field trip program for all 471 students of grades 1 to 3 at Hwasun Jeil Middle School.

The program was designed to help students easily understand the importance of vaccines and GMP, as well as the process of pharmaceutical production. It consisted of ▲theoretical lectures, ▲a guided tour of the Center’s GMP manufacturing facilities, and ▲hands-on training in production and quality testing. Notably, the lectures and practical sessions were conducted by the Center’s experts, who have years of experience carrying out CDMO projects, further enhancing the educational value.

This initiative was part of the Jeonnam Educational Development Special Zone program and was intended to help students gain an understanding of the Hwasun Bio-Cluster ecosystem while exploring diverse career paths in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Some students actively expressed their interest by asking questions such as, “What process should I go through to join the Center in the future?”

Building on this first field trip, Hwasun Jeil Middle School and the Center are discussing the operation of more advanced curricula tailored for science clubs and students interested in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Through this collaboration, the two institutions aim to contribute to nurturing future pharmaceutical professionals.

▲ Students participating in quality control practice sessions

▲ Students taking part in pharmaceutical production training

Since its establishment in 2017, the Center has been operating as a public CDMO following the completion of its main building in 2020. Over the years, it has built a diverse track record, including COVID-19 vaccine development, production of clinical phase 3 samples, and mRNA vaccine manufacturing. Based on this expertise, the Center has also been running training programs for universities, educational institutions, and job seekers since 2023 as part of the “Vaccine Industry Professional Workforce Training Project.”

In July 2025, the Center opened the largest advanced GMP training facility in the Gwangju–Jeonnam region and has since been actively operating it. The facility is being equipped with pharmaceutical production systems for hands-on training, covering processes from microbial cultivation to purification, as well as instruments for quality control practices such as physicochemical analysis, microbiological testing, and environmental monitoring, all of which are scheduled to be fully established within this year.

Furthermore, the Center has already achieved its target of training 900 graduates by 2026, and it is expected to play a significant role in fostering pharmaceutical professionals across the entire Honam region.