Australia's CSL plans to cut one-third of R&D workforce, AFR reports
CSL did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
CSL's head of R&D, William Mezzanotte, briefed staff of the move earlier this month, but the details will not be outlined to the market until the company releases its full-year results on August 19, AFR added.
Mezzanotte reportedly said the company would consolidate its R&D teams at six sites, including Melbourne, and increasingly rely on external partnerships and possible acquisitions to fill any gaps, according to AFR.
"We are streamlining the R&D organisation to foster collaboration, reduce duplication and improve efficiencies, and we are simplifying our operating mode," a CSL spokesman said, as per the AFR.
CSL was established 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 through the decades, largely due to its plasma collection business.
CSL has invested around $5.8 billion in its R&D division over the past five 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.
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