Luxembourg, 29/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending DKK 240 million to Statens Serum Institut (SSI) in Denmark in order to finance the development of a multi-purpose production facility for vaccines and diagnostics at its headquarters in Copenhagen. The EIB funds will support the construction of a new facility for the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. The new facility will be used for APIs for paediatric combination vaccines. The current loan is a further development of the successful cooperation between the EIB and SSI, one of the world's leading institutes in the area of prevention and control of infectious diseases, congenital disorders and biological threats. The loan is in line with the EIB's lending priority of supporting investment leading to the establishment of a knowledge-based society in Europe. (ol)