CSL

CSL Bioplasma provides plasma fractionation services in Melbourne under contracts with Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. We market commercial plasma products in Asia (excluding Japan) and operate an immunohaematology blood grouping business in Australia.

Sales growth of 20% to $253 million underpinned a successful year driven by increasing commercial sales of plasma products in Asia and expanding plasma volumes for fractionation at our Australian facility. Our business focus as a leading supplier in the Asia Pacific is to continue developing commercial sales and fractionation services.

Growth in Asia was driven by albumin sales to China where our operational commitment and extensive distribution network ensured that clinicians and patients had continued access to CSL’s global brands. Our fractionation business growth has been driven by Australia, New Zealand and the commencement of fractionation services for Taiwan.

In Australia and New Zealand, CSL Bioplasma continued providing access to a number of niche plasma products distributed on a named patient basis. Manufactured by CSL Behring, these products include Haemocomplettan® P (fibrinogen), Fibrogammin® P (Factor XIII) and Berinert® P (C1 esterase inhibitor). These valuable services ensure access to a broad portfolio of plasma products for a very small number of patients with rare and life-threatening inherited disorders.

We successfully increased manufacturing capacity at our Melbourne facility and further investment is planned to ensure our ability to meet the growing demand for fractionation services. We also carried out equipment upgrades to further optimise manufacturing process control and automation.

One benefit of manufacturing process enhancements has been further yield improvements for INTRAGAM® P, our chromatographically purified IVIg for which demand continues to grow. Better yields ensure the optimal use of plasma collected from Australia’s voluntary, non-remunerated donors by the Australian Red Cross Blood Service for fractionation by CSL.

Two high-yielding, chromatographically purified immunoglobulins entered phase III clinical trials in Australia and New Zealand during the year. These 10% intravenous and 16% subcutaneous immunoglobulins are designed to improve patient convenience. Following successful clinical investigations, we have also lodged a dossier with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) seeking approval for Biostate® (Factor VIII/von Willebrand Factor) for the treatment of von Willebrand disease.

As detailed in our feature story on page 12 of this Report, CSL Bioplasma is continuing to fund educational programs in neurology and immunology to support the appropriate use of our products.