Aspen’s Saad sees weight-loss drugs becoming its biggest product

Aspen’s sales of blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drug Mounjaro have surged to about R1.5 billion, underscoring the growing importance of obesity medicines to Africa’s largest drugmaker.

The medication, which the company distributes in South Africa for Eli Lilly & Co, was responsible for about 40% of the growth in the country’s private pharmaceutical market over the past year, Aspen CEO Stephen Saad said in an interview on Wednesday.

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Aspen believes GLP-1 medicines have the potential to become its biggest product category, Saad said, as the Durban-based company prepares to expand Mounjaro into other African markets and launch its own generic version of semaglutide.

“We definitely believe it’s got potential to be our biggest product,” Saad said.

The expansion comes as Aspen benefits from a restructuring of its manufacturing operations.

Normalised earnings from continuing operations rose 28% at constant exchange rates in the year to 30 June, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Global push

Aspen has submitted applications to sell Mounjaro in Nigeria and Kenya and hopes to secure approvals during the 2027 financial year, Saad said.

It plans to subsequently expand into French-speaking West Africa and other markets including Ethiopia and Tanzania.

The company received Canadian regulatory approval in July to sell generic injectable semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk A/S’s Ozempic and Wegovy.

Aspen expects its first semaglutide sales in the 2027 financial year, though the Canadian launch depends on supplies of the active pharmaceutical ingredient from India’s Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, which has experienced temporary constraints.

Aspen expects to have greater clarity on those supplies this month, Saad said.

SA regulatory approval application

The drugmaker has also submitted its semaglutide product for regulatory approval in South Africa and is pursuing registrations in Brazil and other emerging markets. Saad said Aspen ultimately plans to manufacture it locally, though there is no timetable yet for its South African launch.

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Generic GLP-1 medicines could also significantly reduce the cost of treatment.

Saad said he expects generics globally to cost at least 50% less than current branded GLP-1 medicines, potentially widening access to treatments that remain beyond the reach of many people.

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Aspen sees scope for lower prices to substantially increase demand and is in talks with health insurers including Discovery, which runs South Africa’s biggest administrator for such operators.

Novo Nordisk is separately seeking South African approval for an oral version of Wegovy, while the expiry of the local patent covering injectable semaglutide is opening the market to cheaper alternatives.

Aspen also wants to distribute Lilly’s oral GLP-1 pill, Saad said, potentially adding another obesity medicine to its portfolio.

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Aspen separately said on Wednesday that it had repurchased 13.3 million shares for about R1.98 billion, equivalent to roughly 3% of its issued share capital at the time shareholders approved the buyback authority.

The share fell as much as 11%, the biggest drop in a year.