Australian biotech CSL to trim R&D division, rely on external partnerships

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(Reuters) -Australian biotech giant CSL Ltd said on Tuesday it plans to trim its research and development division across six global locations and would rely more on external partnerships, a move that will cut its internal workforce.

CSL’s statement comes a day after the Australian Financial Review newspaper reported that the company planned to slash around a third of its 2,500 R&D staff to streamline its operations and improve efficiency.

CSL did not provide details on the job reductions in its emailed statement to Reuters, saying that “it was too early to comment on specific numbers”.

“We are streamlining the R&D organisation to foster collaboration, reduce duplication, and improve efficiencies and we are simplifying our operating model,” a spokesperson said.

“We will increasingly depend on a more optimal mix of internal capabilities and external partnerships to build and deliver our R&D pipeline, which will require a smaller global internal workforce in the future.”

The company will disclose further details in its full-year results on August 19, it said.

CSL was founded more than a century ago as a government laboratory focusing on manufacturing vaccines. It went public in 1994 and became one of the most valuable companies in Australia over the decades, largely due to its plasma collection business.

It has invested around $5.8 billion in its R&D division over the last five fiscal years, which underpins its core businesses, including its most profitable plasma unit, CSL Behring.

The company continues to expect annualised double-digit earnings growth over the medium term, as of February, even as its profit growth slowed in the first half of fiscal 2025.

Its shares were up 3% at A$248.570 apiece in afternoon trade in Sydney, their highest level since late May.

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar, Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Vijay Kishore and Sonia Cheema)