French drugmaker Sanofi plans to build a new state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing facility at the Canadian headquarters of its vaccines global business unit Sanofi Pasteur in Toronto, Ontario, at a cost of €250 million. The company said the investment bolsters its operations in Canada and underscores its commitment to advancing public health around the world.

The facility, scheduled to be completed in 2021, will be one of Sanofi’s largest-ever investments in a single building and will “significantly increase” capacity to meet growing demand for pediatric and booster vaccines – in particular the five-component acellular pertussis (5-acP) antigen – the drugmaker said. It will also be equipped to produce the antigens used in the diphtheria and tetanus vaccines.

Philippe Luscan, the company’s executive vice president, Global Industrial Affairs, called the new project “one of the most important investments for the Sanofi global industrial network,” adding tha  Canada has a strong legacy in the research and development of vaccines. Sanofi Pasteur reported 8% sales growth in 2017 to €5.1 billion.

Sanofi’s Dengvaxia vaccine developed to treat dengue fever, which generated only €3 million in sales last year, is still embroiled in controversy in the Philippines. Up to now, the drugmaker has refunded the government €19 million for unused doses and taken an inventory impairment charge of €87 million.

Dengvaxia-related problems, however show no signs of abating. Philippines health authorities are still reporting deaths claimed to be related to the vaccine, and a growing number of families are pressing for criminal charges to be filed against the authorities and executives of Sanofi.

At the same time, officials have not been able to definitively establish a link between Dengvaxia and any of the deaths said to be associated with it. One study found a “causal association” between inoculation and three of the 14 deaths examined but was unable to verify it without further testing.

The Philippines’ health authority is due imminently to release findings from a second investigation, reviewing another 17 additional possibly Dengvaxia-related deaths. The country’s mass immunization program was suspended after a Sanofi analysis concluded that the vaccine could worsen infections in those already exposed.