Sanofi-Aventis is still testing its new Dengue fever jab, but it's already broken ground on a massive new manufacturing plant in France that will churn out a huge supply of the vaccine.

Sanofi is investing $477 million--its most expensive single industrial project--in the new facility north of Lyon. And if it stays on schedule, the plant will be ready to start making the new vaccine in 2013. Sanofi CEO Chris Viehbacher (photo [1]) says that the new vaccine, once approved, has clear potential for earning more than a billion euros a year.

"It's hard to give a precise estimate, but I wouldn't be investing 350 million euros if there wasn't a strong chance that this is the biggest vaccine ever," Viehbacher said. There are 50 million new Dengue fever infections every year.

- read the story [2] from BusinessWeek

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