CSL's Broadmeadows lab,which is working on coronavirus vaccines.Credit:Chris Hopkins
The facility will be focused on making influenza vaccines,as well products such as anti-venoms to counter Australia's deadly snakes and spiders. The new site will enable Seqirus to produce vaccines using cell-based technology,which provides significant advantages in speed and flexibility compared with the company's current manufacturing methods which involve growing the flu virus in chicken eggs.
Seqirus'general manager,Stephen Marlow,said new cell-based technologies would help the company respond more quickly during periods of high demand for vaccines.
"What we’re seeing with the new cell-based technology that we’re bringing in is we can produce[doses] somewhere in the region of three times quicker. So you can imagine how important that is in an influenza pandemic,that we can respond that much quicker,"he said.
Wilson Asset Management portfolio manager John Ayoub said news of the new plant was positive but wouldn't be"a game-changer"in terms of the company's financials."I think this isn’t about revenue,it’s about security. It provides tenure for CSL and surety for CSL,"he said.
CSL acquired the Novartis influenza vaccine portfolio in 2015 for $US275 million and then rebranded its bioCSL arm to Seqirus. Over the past four years it has turned the business from a loss-maker into an operation that booked $US1.3 billion($1.8 billion) in revenue in 2020. By comparison,CSL's plasma products arm Behring made $US7.6 billion.
Seqirusproduced record numbers of flu vaccines for Australia this year as demand spiked due to COVID-19. The company has repeatedly told investors it expects global demand for flu vaccines will stay strong even after coronavirus.
Chief investment officer at Australian Eagle Asset Management Sean Sequeira said he didn't expect the increase in demand for influenza products to have a big impact on CSL's revenue. However,he said news of the government funding and new plant was a positive as it more closely intertwined Seqirus with government pandemic responses.