After three years of construction, global biotechnology leader CSL (ASX:CSL; USOTC:CSLLY), today, inaugurated its new EUR 150 million research and development (R&D) site on the grounds of the research campus in Marburg's Görzhausen Industrial Park. Covering around 40,000 square meters, the M600 R&D center provides space for up to 500 R&D employees, making it CSL's largest R&D center worldwide and combining all disciplines under one roof.
“Investing in Marburg makes sense for us as this region helped shape CSL today,” said Paul Perreault, CSL CEO and Managing Director. “The building complex was constructed using state-of-the-art technologies in accordance with strict sustainability criteria and, according to the company's plans, will make Marburg, Central Hesse, and Hesse a beacon of biotechnology far beyond the state and national borders.”
The new R&D building also offers space for collaboration partners from all over the world. R&D centers like M600, strategically located near universities, institutes, and biomedical centers, have the advantage of providing efficient access to external talent. “The new research center will create an optimal environment for top level research and open possibilities for cooperation with regional universities and non-university research organizations”, said Hesse’s Minister for Science and the Arts, Angela Dorn-Rancke. “By this, it is perfectly in line with the state government’s commitment to support top level research in Hessen and to transform Hessen’s universities into leading and attractive research facilities for qualified specialists interacting with industry and society.”
"The science and innovation taking place in Marburg and across the region will help us to shape CSL's future in a sustainable way, and we hope that it will drive further development of the region into a globally recognized innovation center,” said Dr. Bill Mezzanotte, Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer for CSL. “The new R&D hub will continue to play a critical role in the global R&D investment strategy for CSL.”
Marburg is an area of the world important to CSL as its CSL Behring business has an industry-leading manufacturing presence, and the company’s history is rooted in the town. “It’s here where Emil von Behring, one of the founders of our CSL Behring business unit who won the first Nobel Prize in Medicine for pioneering the use of plasma to treat patients suffering from diphtheria, lived and worked”, said CSL CEO Perreault further. “While plasma remains one of our strategic scientific platforms, we have evolved and innovated over the decades – also discovering, developing, and delivering medicines and vaccines across the scientific platforms of Recombinant Technology, Cell and Gene Therapy, and Cell-based, egg-based, adjuvanted, and sa-mRNA vaccines. The science and innovation that takes place here will help us continue to build CSL’s promising future in a sustainable way and, we hope, will help drive the evolution of Marburg as a global center for innovation for patients into the future.”
Modern energy concept and open working environment
The new campus is also an investment in terms of CSL's sustainability strategy. "We have succeeded in constructing a building that meets the highest German energy standards," says Dr. Lars Grönke, who together with Vicky Pirzas is managing director of CSL's R&D department in Marburg. Thus, the building complex is equipped with the latest technologies, such as an ice storage system and heat pumps. The goal is a CO2-neutral energy supply. The ice storage energy management system on CSL's new R&D campus in Marburg is one of the largest in Europe: with a diameter of 17.5 meters and a height of 7 meters, the ice storage system holds an impressive 1,683 cubic meters of water - as much as is contained in a 50-meter swimming pool.
As a special highlight of the September 13 event, tours were given through the building, which is architecturally designed with future ways of activity-based working in mind and offers an inspiring environment with state-of-the-art laboratories. "Coworking spaces combine collaborative and individual work situations through an open space design," Vicky Pirzas explained the concept behind it. "This is designed to bring people closer together and thus foster creativity."
About CSL R&D’s Campus in Marburg
Construction of CSL's new M600 research and development (R&D) center in Marburg, Germany, began in November 2019 and will be completed later this calendar year. The R&D campus is nearly 40,000 sqm in size and includes 7,000 sqm of laboratory space, 7,000 sqm of workspace, and 800 sqm of space for startups from the region. It will also provide space for around 500 CSL research and development employees as well as academic and cooperation partners.
For CSL, responsible handling and efficient use of natural resources are key to sustainable growth. This includes integrating environmental considerations into all key business decisions, reducing carbon emissions, and minimizing waste generation through prevention, reduction, and recycling.
Thus, sustainability was also at the forefront of the design of the new R&D building. The construction of the R&D campus was planned in accordance with the KfW (German government investment and development bank) eligibility criteria for green financing. The investment is also in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals No. 7 - affordable and clean energy - and No. 13 - climate protection. Special features of the modern energy concept include equipping the building with an ice storage system and heat pumps.
M600 is equipped with advanced laboratories and state-of-the-art technical resources and combines various forms of working areas for active work under one roof. In addition, the building also houses laboratory space for external collaborators, contributing to a thriving R&D ecosystem and promoting innovation at the Marburg site.
Overall, CSL’s global Research and Development organization is growing, with more than 2,000 R&D employees in nine countries around the world – in addition to Marburg, the company has an R&D presence in Melbourne, Australia; Bern, Switzerland; Amsterdam, Netherlands, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Pasadena, California, and Waltham, Massachusetts – helping to create an integrated global organization that can conveniently collaborate with institutions everywhere -- offering access to professional development opportunities and enhancing external innovation.
