The governments of Canada and Ontario recently announced plans to invest up to $70 million towards Sanofi Pasteur Limited’s $500-million project to establish one of the most advanced vaccine manufacturing facilities in the world. The investment consists of $20 million from FedDev Ontario’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund, and $50 million through the Jobs and Prosperity Fund.

The 150,000-square-foot Bulk Biologics Facility, to be located at the Connaught Campus in Toronto, will be the first of its kind. The company will double the output of its vaccines by 2023 and launch the Canadian researched and developed pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine into over 30 new international markets. The facility is expected to be operational in 2023.

“Canada has a strong legacy in the research and development of vaccines. With this investment, Sanofi is renewing our longstanding commitment to making Canada central in our effort to protect and improve human health across the globe,” said David Loew, president and head of Sanofi Pasteur, in a press release. “Vaccines save three million lives every year and this new facility will take us one step closer to a world where no one suffers or dies from a vaccine-preventable disease.”

Sanofi Pasteur is the vaccines division of Sanofi, one of the world’s leading healthcare companies and vaccine manufacturers. The company produces critical vaccines to prevent infection diseases.

This project will create or maintain nearly 1,250 jobs.