MELBOURNE, March 6, 2026, 17:36 AEDT
CSL Ltd’s vaccine arm Seqirus has won a new Canadian government contract to supply up to 15 million doses of pandemic influenza vaccine from its Victoria plant if the World Health Organization declares a flu pandemic. CSL said the agreement is the first for its new Tullamarine facility outside Asia-Pacific. 1
The timing matters. The deal gives CSL a needed piece of good news after shares sank to an eight-year low last month when the biotech posted an 81% drop in half-year profit and abruptly changed chief executives. It also gives Seqirus a concrete export win months after CSL shelved plans to spin off the vaccines business amid a slide in U.S. flu vaccination rates. 2
The broader market is rough. Reuters reported in January that U.S. policy changes had chilled vaccine demand across the sector; ING analyst Stephen Farrelly said, “Vaccines will not be a growth area” under the current administration. Sanofi, one of the world’s biggest vaccine makers, has also said its vaccine sales are likely to be slightly negative this year because of U.S. weakness. 3
Under the contract, CSL Seqirus will make a cell-based adjuvanted flu vaccine — meaning the virus is grown in mammalian cells rather than eggs, with an added ingredient to strengthen the immune response. The prime ministers of Australia and Canada said the doses would come from CSL’s manufacturing base in Victoria and support supply-chain resilience between the two countries. 4
CSL did not disclose financial terms. Gillian Stafford, CSL Seqirus’s Canadian commercial operations director, called a flu pandemic an “ever-present threat,” while Canadian Health Minister Marjorie Michel said the contract would help the country “respond quickly” if one was declared. CSL said the doses will be made at Tullamarine near Melbourne, and that this is the facility’s first contract beyond Asia-Pacific after opening in December. 1
Separately, CSL said in a daily filing on Thursday that it had bought back 59,751 shares on March 4, taking the total number repurchased under its on-market program to 4.03 million. The filing showed roughly A$738.8 million had been spent so far, and CSL has said the buyback can run up to US$750 million by June 30. 5
Interim CEO Gordon Naylor, drafted in after Paul McKenzie’s exit, told analysts last month that the U.S. vaccines market was “extraordinarily difficult.” Citi said then that CSL’s full-year guidance left little room for error, with Behring — the company’s main plasma division — expected to do most of the heavy lifting. 2
The competitive backdrop is shifting too. Sanofi and GSK have both been hit by softer U.S. vaccine demand, while Moderna is pushing a combined COVID-flu shot in Europe that it says could reach some markets for the 2026-27 season. That leaves CSL trying to steady a mature flu franchise even as newer formats edge closer. 3
But the Canadian contract may not turn into near-term sales. It is triggered only if a pandemic is declared, and CSL still has to navigate weak routine flu uptake in the United States, seasonal swings at Seqirus and a broader turnaround across Behring and kidney-drugs unit Vifor. Naylor has said the company can do better; investors will now want proof. 6
