Hitting lows not seen since before the pandemic, CSL CEO Paul McKenzie has dismissed concerns that weight-loss drugs like Ozempic pose a risk to the company's kidney disease treatments.
McKenzie’s reassurances come as the biotechnology firm’s stock dwindles, last week falling from $255 per share to a low of $230 following a study by Novo Nordisk (CSE:NOVOb) (NYSE:NVO). The research indicated that drugs like Ozempic could delay kidney disease progression, sending ripples of anxiety through CSL shareholders.
Analysts, including those from Morgan Stanley (NYSE:NYSE:MS), scrutinised the potential impact of such drugs on CSL Vifor, the Swiss pharmaceutical company focused on kidney disease treatments that CSL acquired for more than $16 billion last year.
McKenzie told investors at the company’s capital markets day on Monday that Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1s) medications would not "have any material impact on our business”, as the “obesity impact has little relevance to the impact on kidney or cardiovascular disease”.
Bill Mezzanotte, the company’s head of research and development, supported this, saying that the research did not undermine the importance of CSL's portfolio.
This assurance comes as CSL navigates choppy waters, with its blood plasma division Behring facing cost pressures and its iron product patents nearing expiry.
Despite these challenges, CSL anticipates double-digit earnings growth in the medium term. McKenzie confirmed that the firm remains committed to its growth strategy, even as it dealt with a near "first strike" in a recent annual meeting where 23% of votes opposed the company’s remuneration report.