24 Jun 2022
Safeguarding our people, patients and donors remains our top priority. As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, CSL continues to provide medicines to patients around the world. We have taken measures to support the health and well-being of our people. We continue to closely monitor the outbreak to minimize business impact. (CSL is the parent company of CSL Behring and Seqirus)
Our Efforts:
CSL and AstraZeneca agreed for CSL to manufacture approximately 50 million doses of Vaccine AstraZeneca in Australia for supply to the country. First doses were rolled out in March 2021, with over 40 million doses released as of June 2022.
In 2020, CSL worked with the University of Queensland in the early stages of its UQ-CSL v451 COVID-19 vaccine candidate. A Phase I clinical trial showed that the vaccine elicited a robust response towards the virus and had a strong safety profile. However, following consultation with the Australian Government, CSL did not progress the vaccine candidate to Phase II or Phase III clinical trials due to the partial immune response causing an unexpected interference with certain HIV testing procedures.
CSL Behring co-founded the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, an unprecedented industry of 11 plasma companies, including Takeda, across 13+ countries and five continents, to develop a potential plasma-derived hyperimmune therapy for treating COVID-19. The one-year collaboration concluded in April 2021 after a Phase III clinical trial of the potential therapy did not meet its endpoints.
CSL Behring launched a clinical trial into the use of Garadacimab (CSL312), our factor XIIa antagonist monoclonal antibody, to treat patients suffering from severe respiratory distress, a leading cause of death in patients with COVID-19–related pneumonia. A Phase II trial to assess the safety and efficacy of the potential treatment was rapidly completed; and whilst Garadacimab was found to be safe for these critically ill patients, the treatment was not effective in reducing severe complications of COVID-19.
CSL continues to evaluate additional assets in its portfolio and partnerships with external researchers for potential use in the fight against COVID-19.
Our People:
We have taken numerous steps to help ensure the health and safety of our workforce. This includes streamlining travel and encouraging employees to leverage various communication technologies to minimize business disruption. As a company that believes in the science of vaccines, we have strongly encouraged our workforce to take advantage of the protection and benefits of COVID-19 vaccination.
Our Patients & Products:
CSL continues to provide an uninterrupted supply of our medicines around the world. As the COVID-19 situation evolves, we are closely tracking any impact it could have on our operations.
We have ongoing clinical trials at investigational sites worldwide and remain in close contact with researchers who are involved in this important work to evaluate promising new medicines, discussing the best ways to manage patient visits and follow-up appointments.
Our Donors:
Our plasma collection network is operational. Our plasma centers are committed to the highest standards of quality and safety for our employees and donors.