CSL is consolidating its R&D team in an effort to better position the organization “for long-term success in a rapidly evolving global environment.”
The Australia-based biopharma and manufacturer is undergoing “a strategic review of its R&D operations” designed to reduce duplication and improve efficiency, a CSL spokesperson told Fierce Biotech.
“We will increasingly depend on a more optimal mix of internal capabilities and external partnerships to build and deliver our R&D pipeline,” the spokesperson said. “This will require a smaller global internal workforce in the future.”
CSL will consolidate its R&D teams around six sites located in biotech hubs as the company looks to boost external partnerships.
The biopharma did not share how many employees would be impacted by the workforce reduction but said more information would be presented in the company’s annual earnings results in August.
The simplified operating model will increase the flexibility and variability of CSL’s spending, according to the spokesperson.
CSL operates via several business units: CSL Behring, which includes CSL Plasma; CSL Seqirus; and CSL Vifor. CSL Behring focuses on rare and serious conditions like bleeding disorders, immunodeficiencies and neurological disorders. Meanwhile, CSL Seqirus is a vaccine subsidiary and CSL Vifor focuses on iron deficiency and nephrology.
The global organization highlights its strategic platforms—plasma technology, recombinant technology, cell and gene therapy, and vaccine technology—on its R&D site.
In the fall of last year, CSL Behring shuttered its U.S. R&D hub for cell and gene therapy in Pasadena, California. About 60 workers at the site were affected, a person familiar with the process told Fierce Biotech at the time.
The decision was part of a larger rethink around ex vivo lentiviral vector (LVV)-based gene therapies at CSL, the person told Fierce. The company’s gene therapy labs and manufacturing facilities in Marburg, Germany; Bern, Switzerland; and Sydney, Australia, were also undergoing changes at the time, the person said.
CSL Behring has faced several obstacles relating to its gene therapies, particularly for its hemophilia B gene therapy Hemgenix. While the adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector treatment snagged approval at the end of 2022, the therapy had only been delivered to 12 patients during the 12 months that ended in June 2024.
Not all hemophilia B patients are eligible for Hemgenix and payers are likely to limit the drug’s use to patients with severe or moderately severe disease. Overall, CSL estimates that about 1,000 Americans stand to benefit from Hemgenix.
For hemophilia B competitor Pfizer, limited patient uptake prompted the pharma to discontinue its gene therapy Beqvez in February. No patients appeared to have received commercial Beqvez since its FDA nod in April 2024.