Parkville Multi 3 - C.S.L. Multi-Cache

Commonwealth Serum Laboratories was founded in 1916 as an Australian government body focused on vaccine manufacture.

CSL commenced operation in the vacant Walter and Eliza Hall Institute building at the Melbourne Hospital in 1918, before moving to these purpose-built Parkville premises in the following year. IN 1928 CSL was drawn into a serious public health disaster when a batch of its diphtheria toxin-antitoxin was implicated in the deaths of twelve children in what became known as the 'Bundaberg tragedy'.

Although CSL's manufacturing processes were absolved, its labelling procedures were seen to be in error, leading to an enduring focus on the highest standards across the facility's production. In 1928, CSL also became involved in antivenene (antivenom) manufacture in conjunction with the snake venom research undertaken by Charles Kellaway at the Hall Institute. This led to the successful clinical testing of antivenene against tiger snake bite in 1930, and its commercial release in 1931 tiger snake. In 1934, the research on snake venoms was transferred from the Hall Institute to CSL under the direction of former snake showman, Tom 'Pambo' Eades.

This represented the initiation of research at the laboratories – an outcome its directors had been seeking for over a decade. The relationship with the Hall Institute continued until World War II, particularly via joint projects on viral diseases including polio and influenza coordinated by Frank Macfarlane Burnet and Esmond 'Bill' Keogh. Keogh played an important role in the establishment of penicillin production at CSL in 1944 – a critical wartime achievement.

The operation commenced plasma fractionation in 1952. Thereafter the range of antivenoms increased, including those against other snake species such as Death Adder and the Taipan, plus spiders including the Red Back and – after much difficulty – the Sydney funnel-web. Much of this work, including the introduction in 1962 of a polyvalent antivenom against all of the major terrestrial Australian snakes, occurred under the direction of Saul Wiener, while from 1966 until the mid-1990s, venom research was coordinated by the eccentric but dedicated Struan Sutherland.

Other major achievements of CSL include:

• development of a tetanus vaccine (1938)
• development of a combined vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (1953)
• rapid adoption and production of a polio vaccine (1956)
• development of a multi-purpose animal vaccine covering pulpy kidney (enterotoxemia), tetanus, black disease, malignant oedema and blackleg (1961)
• production of Rhesus (D) immunoglobulin to prevent haemolytic disease in newborns due to Rh factor incompatibility (1966–67)
• pioneering heat treatment to protect blood and plasma products from infection with HIV (1983)
• collaboration on development of the world's first human papillomavirus vaccine, Gardasil, building on the pioneering work by Professor Ian Frazer (1994-2005).
• In 1994, the Commonwealth facility was privatised as CSL Ltd. In 2000 CSL doubled its size through the purchase of a Swiss plasma company, the Bern-based ZLB Bioplasma AG. In 2004, during a period of plasma oversupply, the company expanded again with the purchase of the German medical company Aventis Behring. The company was the 2nd Australian public company to have reached a share price of over $100 per share

In 2011, the company received the Minister's Award for Outstanding Equal Employment Opportunities Initiative for their Thinking Kids Children's Centre.
In October 2014, Novartis announced its intention to sell its influenza vaccine business, including its development pipeline, to CSL for $275 million. CSL merged it into its BioCSL operation.
In November 2015, BioCSL rebranded the combined business with Novartis Influenza Vaccines as Seqirus [Sek-eer-us] creating the world's second largest influenza vaccine company.

We hope you enjoy your visit.