Brian McNamee to step down from CSL next July

CSL (ASX:CSL) has announced that its long-serving CEO, Dr Brian McNamee, will step down in July next year.

McNamee, who has been in the top job since 1990, will be replaced by Paul Perrault after a transition period. Perrault, currently president of plasma therapeutics subsidiary CSL Behring, will take over as both CEO and managing director.

Perreault joined CSL in 2004, as part of the $965 million acquisition of what was then known as Aventis Behring. He previously held the role of CSL's executive vice president for commercial operations.

CSL chairman professor John Shine said McNamee will continue to lead the company right up to next year's changing of the guard.

He said the transition is going according to a rough schedule that had been in place since late 2009.

Shine said McNamee and his team had built CSL “more or less from scratch. When Brian took over in 1990 CSL was a domestic focused government enterprise, now we are...one of the world's largest global plasma therapeutics businesses.”

CSL sold $33 million in plasma therapies in 1991, and $3.8 billion last year.

McNamee said the future is looking bright for the company as well. “CSL is in great shape, has its strongest ever R&D pipeline and is well-placed to continue a story of growth and success,” he said.

CSL’s (ASX:CSL) share price dropped following the announcement, down 2.5% on Friday to $40.31 as of 3pm.