Sydney, Feb 19, 2026, 17:26 AEDT — The session wrapped up, with trading now finished for the day.
- CSL finished the session 0.95% higher at A$154.19, marking a second day in the green.
- The spotlight has landed on a fresh licensing agreement with Eli Lilly for clazakizumab, drawing investor attention.
- CSL continued its buyback spree, ASX filings revealed, as one director also boosted their stake through a rights plan.
CSL Limited CSL.AX finished Thursday’s session at A$154.19, up 0.95%. Shares bounced between A$152.13 and A$154.45 during the day. While that makes two days in positive territory, the stock is still roughly 15% off its early-February highs.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.9%, showing investors are still willing to take on risk as earnings season winds down. CSL, though, has been under pressure—shareholders are watching to see if the stock will stabilize following this month’s sharp drop.
CSL on Wednesday announced it’s handing Eli Lilly and Company specific rights to develop and market clazakizumab—a monoclonal antibody aimed at interleukin-6 (IL-6)—for an upfront $100 million payment. CSL retains exclusive rights for clazakizumab’s use in preventing cardiovascular events among end-stage kidney disease patients, while Lilly gets the green light to pursue other conditions. CSL also pointed to milestone payments and royalties from Lilly. “Clazakizumab is a promising therapeutic candidate,” said Bill Mezzanotte, who leads research and development at CSL. Reuters
CSL, in its ASX filing, said it’s pushing ahead with POSIBIL6ESKD (NCT05485961), a Phase 3 trial focused on dialysis patients. Clazakizumab, the drug at the center of the study, originally came from Vitaeris and was picked up by CSL back in 2020. The deal still needs to clear standard closing hurdles, such as regulatory approval.
CSL stepped in on Wednesday, scooping up 51,191 shares through its on-market buyback, according to a separate ASX filing. The price tag: roughly A$7.85 million, with shares changing hands between A$152.19 and A$154.84. To date, the company has repurchased 3.27 million shares. This buyback program is set to continue until June 30, 2026.
Non-executive director Alison Watkins picked up 214 CSL shares on Feb. 17 after exercising director equity plan rights, according to a filing.
The Lilly agreement comes on the heels of CSL’s interim results earlier this month, which revealed one-off restructuring charges and impairments dragging down reported profit. Still, the company held its full-year guidance and pushed ahead with a buyback expansion. “We are clearly not satisfied with our performance,” chief financial officer Ken Lim said in the statement. CSL Limited
CSL is navigating a change at the top. Earlier this month, the company announced CEO and managing director Paul McKenzie will step down. Gordon Naylor, a CSL veteran, steps in as interim CEO while the board looks for a successor.
A pipeline deal might give shares a quick bump, but that pop can vanish just as fast if investors refocus on classic drug-development pitfalls: timelines for trials get pushed back, late-stage results miss the mark, and regulatory reviews drag longer than the market wants.
Now, focus shifts to whether there’s any word on when the Lilly deal will wrap up, along with CSL’s daily buyback filings. As for the next set date: CSL’s interim dividend is on deck, with shares going ex-div on March 10, the record falling March 11, and payout slated for April 9.
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