Millicent Spencer
A $900 million plasma facility will open in Broadmeadows to meet the demand of lifesaving plasma-based therapies for patients both locally and globally.
The investment will expand on the current CSL facilities and allow the company to increase capacity nine-fold, producing 9.2 million plasma equivalent litres per annum.
CSL chief executive and managing director Paul Perreault said the expansion of the existing facilities will benefit both patients and those in biopharma manufacturing.
“With the construction of this new facility in Victoria, CSL will continue to meet the increasing demand for our plasma biotherapies not only in Australia, but also for our patients worldwide who rely on us every day,” he said.
“It also ensures we are developing the skills and expertise locally to support advanced manufacturing in Australia.”
Plasma-derived therapies treat those with immunodeficiencies, neurological disorders, shock and burns. They are used in operating rooms around the world for transplant patients, surgical patients and cancer patients.
The new CSL Fractionation Facility in Broadmeadows will be the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
The facility will process domestic plasma from Australian, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysian donor plasma, in addition to commercially sourced plasma through CSL Plasma (a subsidiary of CSL), one of the world’s largest collectors of human plasma.
The new facility has received approval by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration and is expected to be fully operational from early 2023.
