A casual visitor to the ASX from another universe watching CSL’s valuation shrink in 2023 would not know that CSL had been a mainstay of Australian share portfolios – yielding the best, most consistent returns of any large company – since its listing in 1994.

The blood products giant had temporarily succumbed to the “Ozempic effect” – the idea that the new generation of wonder weight-loss drugs would dramatically improve the health of people struggling with obesity and make them far less susceptible to chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.