Class action against Australia's CSL widens with US university claimant; Medicines Australia appoints permanent CEO

Action against Australian plasma and vaccines producer CSL has continued to accelerate, since the US Federal Trade Commission blocked the firm's proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of the American firm Talecris Biotherapeutics last year on the basis of competition concerns and allegations of market manipulation, as CSL was already the second-largest blood-based medicines operator in the US market (The Pharma Letter June 9, 2009).

Now, the US University of Utah has joined a multimillion-dollar class action against CSL, becoming the first educational institution to claim damages from the alleged operation of a plasma cartel, reports the Australian newspaper the Sydney Herald.

In documents filed at the Illinois Northern District Court, the university has sought damages of almost $10 million against CSL, its key plasma business, CSL Behring, and the company's chief US rival, Baxter International.