The main purpose in establishing the plant is to support further testing of developed vaccines, which needed a larger facility at the semi-industrial level of production capacity, said Dr Thongchai Thavichachart, TCELS' chief executive officer.

Initially, the plant would produce experimental vaccines for three groups of diseases - dengue fever, meningitis, and the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus), he said.

A vaccine to fight the hepatitis B virus would be included in the production plan in the near future, Thongchai said.

The initial budget is about Bt32.9 million and the plant would be located on Mahidol University's Salaya campus, which already has a vaccine development centre.

The vaccine plant is currently being designed and equipment being purchased, Thongchai said. It should be open for service within the next two years.

Experts from the International Vaccine Institute were giving advice on the design of the plant, said Prof Sutee Yoksan, the head of Mahidol University's Centre for Vaccine Development. To maintain world standards of vaccine development, the new plant would be run by Thai experts in this field, from various institutions under supervision of international experts, he said.

Thailand is expected to be the first country to successfully develop a vaccine to fight against dengue fever and dengue haemarrhogic fever. The vaccine is being tested on a small scale with humans.