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The story
Origin and Penfold directorship
CSL was founded in 1916 as Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, an Australian government body focused on vaccine manufacture. Under the first director, William Penfold, CSL commenced operation in the vacant Walter and Eliza Hall Institute building at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1918 before moving to its purpose-built Parkville premises in the following year.
Morgan directorship
After ongoing disputes with the Department of Health and its director-general John Cumpston, Penfold resigned in 1927 and was replaced by Frederic Morgan. Soon after Morgan's appointment, CSL was drawn into a serious public health disaster when a batch of its diphtheria toxin-antitoxin was implicated in the deaths of twelve children in what became known as the Bundaberg tragedy of 1928. Although CSL's manufacturing processes were absolved, its labelling procedures were seen to be in error, leading to an enduring focus on the highest standards across the facility's production.
Antivenene research and production
In 1928, CSL also became involved in antivenene (antivenom) manufacture in conjunction with the snake venom research undertaken by Charles Kellaway at the Hall Institute. This led to the successful clinical testing of antivenene against tiger snake Notechis scutatus bite in 1930 and its commercial release in 1931.
In 1934, the research on snake venoms was transferred from the Hall Institute to CSL under the direction of former snake showman and herpetologist Tom "Pambo" Eades. This represented the initiation of research at the laboratories – an outcome its directors had been seeking for over a decade. The relationship with the Hall Institute continued until World War II, particularly via joint projects on viral diseases including polio and influenza coordinated by Frank Macfarlane Burnet and Esmond "Bill" Keogh. Keogh played an important role in the establishment of penicillin production at CSL in 1944 – a critical wartime achievement.
Plasma fractionation and Wiener directorship
In 1952, operation commenced plasma fractionation. Thereafter the range of antivenoms increased, including those against other snake species such as death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) and the taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus), plus spiders including the redback (Latrodectus hasselti) and – after much difficulty – the Sydney funnel-web (Atrax robustus). Much of this work, including the introduction in 1962 of a polyvalent antivenom against all of the major terrestrial Australian snakes, occurred under the direction of Saul Wiener, while from 1966 until the mid-1990s, venom research was coordinated by the eccentric but dedicated Struan Sutherland, who in 1979 released new guidelines for snakebite first aid, and a new test for snakebites that would identify which snake had envenomated the victim.
Other major achievements of CSL include:
early production of insulin for treatment of Australian diabetics (1923)
development of a tetanus vaccine (1938)
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development of a combined vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (1953)
rapid adoption and production of a polio vaccine (1956)
development of a multi-purpose animal vaccine covering pulpy kidney (enterotoxemia), tetanus, black disease, malignant oedema and blackleg (1961)
production of Rhesus (D) immunoglobulin to prevent haemolytic disease in newborns due to Rh factor incompatibility (1966–67)
pioneering heat treatment to protect blood and plasma products from infection with HIV (1983)
collaboration on development of the world's first human papillomavirus vaccine, Gardasil, building on the pioneering work by Professor Ian Frazer (1994–2005).
Privatisation
In 1994, the Commonwealth facility was privatised by the Keating government as CSL Ltd. and was publicly listed and traded on the Australian Securities Exchange. The company completed an initial public offering in June 1994 at A$2.30 per share (76.7c adjusted for split). CSL stock is part of the S&P/ASX 20 Index.
Acquisition of ZLB Bioplasma AG and Aventis Behring
In 2000, CSL doubled its size through the purchase of a Swiss plasma company, the Bern-based ZLB Bioplasma AG. In 2004, during a period of plasma oversupply, the company expanded again with the purchase of the German medical company Aventis Behring. The company was the second Australian public company to have reached a share price of over $100 per share.
Acquisition and merging of Novartis' vaccine business
In October 2014, Novartis announced its intention to sell its influenza vaccine business, including its development pipeline, to CSL for $275 million. CSL merged it into its BioCSL operation.
In November 2015, BioCSL rebranded the combined business with Novartis Influenza Vaccines as Seqirus [Sek-eer-us], creating the world's second-largest influenza vaccine company.
In August 2017, the business announced it would acquire Calimmune and its stem cell therapy platform.
Completed in 2018, Seqirus's plant in Holly Spring, NC was funded with $59 million from the U.S. government.
in June 2020, CSL announced it would exercise its right to acquire Vitaeris.
In December 2021, the business announced it would acquire Swiss drugmaker, Vifor Pharma AG, for $11.7 billion.
In August 2022, CSL rebranded all of its divisions to start with the CSL name. Therefore, the divisions became CSL Behring, CSL Plasma, CSL Seqirus, and CSL Vifor.
From Wikipedia’s article on CSL Limited, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5