CSL announces major manufacturing expansion in Melbourne

In today’s news, it is welcoming to hear CSL Behring’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Perreault, has been given the green light to construct a $210 million dollar facility in Broadmeadows for the manufacture of AlbuRx®. Work on the site will commence in the next few weeks.

AlbuRx® is a product that is used to restore plasma volume in patients facing major surgery, trauma or serious infections and burns, and is currently produced in the United States, Germany and Switzerland.

With the Victorian Premier Denis Napthine backing the decision for the new AlbuRx® facility, this means that the government is highly aware of the importance of expanding and investing time and effort into the Australian pharmaceutical industry.

The pharmaceutical manufacturing sector has experienced steady growth over the last few years becoming Australia’s largest exporter of manufactured goods, a welcome relief from digging stuff out the ground.  This news is especially important for service providers like PharmOut which depend on young professionals to hone their skills in the factories, before allowing us to export our services internationally.

I believe that this sort of state government support as well as other incentives such as the Export Market Development Grants has, enabled PharmOut (a wholly owned Australian company) to earn more income from international sources than on the domestic market last month.

I would like to congratulate CSL and the government in backing a “growth industry” up from $16bn in 2003 to $23bn in 2013, creating roles for skilled staff to join the estimate 15,000 people currently employed directly in this sector.

Original announcement from CSL is available here.

The pharmaceutical industry score card is available here.

If you want to read more on similar topics click here and here.