CSL Ltd. — Capital/Financing Update 2005

Jan 18, 2005

NEWS RELEASE 19 January 2005

2004/05 PROFIT UPGRADED TO \$3.0 MILLION

GROPEP ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO ITS CELL CULTURE PRODUCTS MARKETING ARRANGEMENTS

Listed biopharmaceutical company GroPep Limited (ASX: GRO) has today announced that it has reached agreement with CSL Limited (CSL) to restructure their marketing, sales and distribution Agreement.

The result of this restructure is to formalise the existing arrangements under which CSL's current subsidiary, JRH Biosciences Inc (JRH), will continue to act as the worldwide distributor of GroPep's Cell Culture Products. Previously CSL was the appointed distributor which in turn delegated the appointment to JRH.

This follows today's announcement from CSL that it has agreed to sell JRH to Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (Sigma-Aldrich), based in St Louis, Missouri, USA.

All other aspects of the Agreement, which was originally established in 2000 and continues until 2010, remain unchanged.

CSL has also agreed to pay GroPep US\$1.0 million per annum over the remaining six years of the Agreement. Payments will be in equal half yearly instalments over this period.

As a result of this and the recently announced awarding of an R&D Start grant, GroPep has upgraded its forecast net profit after tax for the full 2004/05 year to approximately \$3.0 million. This compares with a net profit of \$1.0 million in 2003/04.

CEO, Mr Bob Finder said "GroPep has had an excellent relationship with CSL over the last 10 years and would like to thank them for their support. Furthermore, we are very pleased that the arrangement with JRH will continue under the new ownership structure."

"We expect the combination of JRH and Sigma-Aldrich to produce an organisation with considerable strength in the Cell Culture Media market and presents even greater opportunities for GroPep to develop its Cell Culture Products business", Mr Finder added.

GroPep, based at Thebarton, South Australia, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in August 2000. It specialises in the development, manufacture and commercialisation of biopharmaceuticals and also biologically active proteins for cell culture and biomedical research.

About Sigma-Aldrich

Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (Nasdaq: SIAL) is a leading Life Science and High Technology company based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 34 countries and has 6,000 employees worldwide. Total revenues in 2003 were approximately US\$1.2 billion. Additional information about Sigma-Aldrich is available on the company's web site at www.sigmaaldrich.com.

Further Information:

Mr Tony Mitchell Chief Financial Officer/Investor Relations investorrelations@gropep.com.au

Ph: +61 8 8354 7700