CSL Plunges to 7-Year Low After US Vaccine Slump Hits Seqirus

Laboratory technicians at the CSL headquarters in Melbourne, Australia.

Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

CSL Ltd. plunged to the lowest in almost seven years after Australia’s biggest drugmaker postponed plans to spin off its vaccines business, as falling US flu immunizations deepen concern over a slowdown in its Seqirus unit.

The biotech company, the world’s second-largest maker of influenza vaccines, said it expects US flu vaccination rates this season to fall 12% overall and 14% among people ages 65 and older, based on insurance claims data — one of the few indicators currently available on the state of vaccine uptake.