Talent development
SVAX Academy
Biomanufacturing is a skilled trade before it is an industry. SVAX Academy trains the scientists, engineers and technicians who will run the Kingdom's plants, and it is the first of four ways we build that workforce.
Four ways we build the workforce
SVAX Academy
A dedicated learning platform covering biomanufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, quality and technical operations. Ten modules in two bundles, taught in English by people who work in the sector.
Masar Waed
A cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Health, under the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program, that sends Saudi graduates and job seekers for specialist industrial training and brings that knowledge back into the Kingdom's biomanufacturing sector.
Internships
Placements for Saudi students and graduates inside a working professional environment, applying what they studied to the problems a company actually has.
Cooperative training
Structured cooperative training periods with universities and colleges, bridging the gap between an academic program and a working manufacturing site.
Building capabilities. Creating opportunities. Developing Saudi talent.
SVAX Academy
Ten modules, two bundles, taught by people who run a plant
Live instruction in English, delivered virtually, on campus, or as a blend of the two. Cohorts are capped at 35 so that instructors can answer questions.
What the program covers
Bundle 1 covers the science and the rules that govern it. Bundle 2 follows a batch through a manufacturing site, from the bioreactor to the filled vial and the tests that release it. The first cohort, run with King Abdulaziz University, filled to capacity with 34 trainees, and successive cohorts have followed.
Who it is for
Graduates and early-career professionals preparing to work in a biomanufacturing facility, and people already in the sector who want the practical side of it. The usual route in is a degree or diploma in a life sciences, health or pharmaceutical discipline, or two years of work in the sector. No prior industrial experience is assumed.
The curriculum
From what a biologic is, to a vial you can release
Bundle 1: the science and the rules
What a biologic is, and the regulatory and quality framework a company has to work inside before it makes one.
- Biologics: a general overview
- Regulatory affairs
- Good Clinical Practice
- Good Laboratory Practice
Bundle 2: making the product
A batch followed through a manufacturing site, from cell culture to the filled vial and the tests that release it.
- GMP in biomanufacturing facilities
- Quality management
- Upstream bioprocessing
- Downstream bioprocessing
- Fill and finish
- QC
In the room
Where it is delivered
King Abdulaziz University
The founding partnership, and where the program has run since its first cohort.
Batterjee Medical College
A partnership signed in 2025 to deliver SVAX Academy programs on campus, extending the Academy beyond a single university.
Online
A dedicated SVAX learning platform, so a cohort does not have to sit in one room to take the program. Live sessions continue alongside it.
The Jeddah facility
A dedicated training and process development laboratory is part of the plant, so training sits inside a working site rather than beside one.
Why SVAX runs an academy
A factory without a trained workforce is only a building.
The Kingdom's National Biotechnology Strategy calls for around 11,000 quality jobs in the sector by 2030 and about 55,000 by 2040. Those people have to be trained somewhere, on real equipment, by people who run a plant. Localizing biomanufacturing means localizing the skills it depends on.
Courses will also be available online
Alongside the live sessions, delivered virtually or on campus, the program is coming to a dedicated learning platform. Write to us and we will tell you when registration opens.
Enquiries
For program dates, group enrolment, or to partner with the Academy, write to our Human Capital team.