Cheaper obesity drugs on schedule for 2026, Aspen CEO says

Africa’s largest drugmaker is confident of making cheaper, generic versions of injections like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro from next year as the continent faces rising obesity rates.

Aspen Pharmacare Holdings plans have thrust it into the race among global drugmakers to capture part of a weight-loss market that is expected to reach $100 billion by 2030. Patents for the blockbuster drugs expire in some countries starting in March and Aspen expects to make its version for less than half the average global price, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Saad said in an interview Wednesday.

The Durban, South Africa-based company has manufacturing capacity at a plant in its home market and in France, Saad said. Aspen anticipates that it may start generating revenue from generic semaglutide GLP-1 effort before June. It’s likely to initially sell its version in other emerging markets and Canada and then from 2030 in Europe, the US and Australia, he said.

Aspen already has deals with Eli Lilly & Co to serve as a local distributor and with Novo Nordisk A/S as a third-party manufacturer for their blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss treatments. Additional local approvals that would allow Lilly’s Mounjaro to be used not only for diabetes but also for weight-loss are imminent, and there is stock “in the country waiting to go,” Saad said. Aspen recently started making commercial batches of human insulin in anticipation of regulatory approval, following a technical transfer from Novo.

Sales in South Africa of Mounjaro are “shooting the lights out,” Saad said. In a couple of years it may reach R1 billion ($57 million) “which would be a first” in the local private market.

Aspen’s shares fell 1.5% in Johannesburg. The drugmaker also reported a net loss of R1.08 billion for the financial year through June, compared with a profit of R4.4 billion a year earlier.

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