Major Australian biotechnology company, CSL has secured a foothold in the world’s fastest growing plasma therapeutics market with a $US352 million ($466m) stake in Chinese biotech Ruide (Wuhan Zhong Yuan Rui De Biologics). This purchase of an 80 per cent stake provides CSL with a strategic presence in China’s plasma product market, which was valued at more than $3.3 billion as of 2016, and is tipped to grow at approximately 15 per cent a year.

Post- announcement, CSL cited China’s immunoglobulin market was the second largest and second fastest growing after the United States. The transaction would complement its current position in China as a supplier of albumin, allowing the firm to better service patients there with rare and serious disease.

This move was very well received by investors, pushing CSL’s shares to an all-time high, closing at $137.65 per share after a 1.9 per cent gain on Tuesday, June 13, 2017.