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Aspen Pharmacare founder and chief executive Stephen Saad is targeting Canada as a launchpad for a generic version of semaglutide, the drug made famous by Ozempic and Wegovy.
Canada has emerged as an early battleground for copycat semaglutide products, with multiple manufacturers already lining up with the regulator and the market watching for who can clear approval hurdles first. For Aspen, the appeal is straightforward: Canada offers a clear regulatory process, a sizeable reimbursed medicines market, and a chance to prove it can manufacture complex injectable medicines reliably at scale.
Saad has been candid with investors that the race will not be won on hype. Even with patent settings easing in Canada, the practical work of validation, batch release and distribution can stretch timelines, particularly for sterile injectables that demand tight controls from factory line to pharmacy fridge. A first quarter window has been floated in industry chatter, but Saad has warned against assuming an instant rush to market.
The interest in Canada is partly about signalling. A successful filing and launch there would give Aspen a reference point it can use in other jurisdictions as patents loosen and demand accelerates. Several large markets are expected to see earlier openings than the United States and parts of Europe, pushing generic makers to prioritise countries where approvals can come sooner and commercial playbooks can be refined.
Generic semaglutide is not a simple tablet swap. Supply chains for the active ingredient are tight, device components are specialised, and the manufacturing process is unforgiving. That is why Canada’s queue of interested suppliers is being treated as a stress test, not just a paperwork exercise. Companies will be judged on whether they can keep pharmacies stocked, manage cold chain logistics, and respond quickly to safety and quality scrutiny.
Aspen’s pursuit of semaglutide sits alongside a parallel move that is already generating revenue. The company has an agreement with Eli Lilly to market and distribute Mounjaro in South Africa, and Saad has said sales have beaten expectations. The arrangement gives Aspen a front row seat to the category while it prepares, in other markets, to compete with cheaper alternatives once patent barriers fall.
The dual strategy has a logic that is hard to miss. Distributing an originator product builds relationships with prescribers and payers, provides insight into patient demand, and sharpens operational readiness. A later generic launch, where permitted, then shifts the business toward volume and price competition, a terrain where Aspen has made its name.
Saad is leaning into a broader message about what boards and executives are confronting in healthcare and beyond: rapid technological change, political uncertainty, and supply chain fragility. Medicines companies feel that pressure acutely. A single disruption in a specialised input can delay production, while sudden surges in demand can expose weak links in packaging, distribution and forecasting.
Aspen’s story is also tightly bound to Saad’s own. The group traces its roots to 1997, when Saad and Gus Attridge were among the founders of a Durban-based start-up that grew through acquisitions, licensing deals and manufacturing expansion. Over time, Aspen built a footprint across emerging and developed markets, with a reputation for operating in complex jurisdictions and turning inherited assets into working production lines.
Canada may not be Aspen’s biggest market, but it is shaping up as a useful proving ground because it combines commercial scale with a regulator that is taken seriously internationally. If Aspen can land a generic semaglutide there and keep supply steady, it strengthens the argument that it can compete in the most scrutinised category in global pharma right now.
