Interesting...

CSL is spending US$550m (A$720m) on a 17,000 patient, 4-year phase three clinical trial of a new treatment aimed at preventing secondary heart attacks.  

That's essentially what MSB's heart program is all about, too.

By any measure, $720m is an almighty big number (why, it is even more than MSB has invested on research over its entire listed life).

For context, at today's market prices $720m could buy MSB's heart program, plus all MSB's other "multiple shots on goal" programs, with a few tens of millions of dollars left over.

So here you have two companies - headquartered a mere short tram ride from one another - targeting the same medical condition; the one needs capital badly and the other has surplus capital coming out of its ears... you would have thought the logical outcome would be for them to have got together to do a partnering deal of some sort.  

But, no.
CSL goes on its own. [*]

Maybe its because CSL are just a bunch of number-crunching boneheads.


[*] And its not as if CSL are stem cell averse, per se; they have form in investing in a company undertaking stem cell development