Singapore  - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the second biggest drugmaker worldwide, said it plans to start producing vaccines against life-threatening childhood diseases in a new plant opened Tuesday in Singapore from 2011 onwards.

With total costs of 600 million Singapore dollars (411 million US dollars), "the new plant is GSK'S first primary vaccine manufacturing facility and its biggest investment in Asia," the London-based company said.

The plant in the city state was GSK's second global site to produce a pneumonia-fighting conjugate vaccine after Belgium.

The conjugate vaccine was designed to protect children against life-threatening diseases such as meningitis and bacteraemic pneumonia, as well as middle-ear infections.

The burden of such diseases is considerable, as around 1 million children under 5 years of age die from pneumococcal infections every year, the company said.(dpa)