After 750% Stock Boom, Australia's Biotech Giant Is Struggling

Human plasma is a protein-rich compound made by spinning blood so fast that the heavier red blood cells are flung aside like clothes on the side of a washing machine, leaving behind a straw-colored liquid. It is also the basis of CSL Ltd.’s $88 billion health-care empire.

Australia’s largest biotechnology company delivered a 750% return for investors in the decade before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic by dominating the global market for the critical substance. However, since the start of 2020, the stock has plateaued for the longest period since its listing. The firm first had difficulty getting people to both sell and gather blood from which to make plasma during lockdowns and then struggled with its largest-ever acquisition.