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Stephen Saad's Aspen Pharmacare has won regulatory approval in Brazil and South Africa for its generic injectable semaglutide, paving the way for launches in two key emerging markets.
The company announced the approvals on Wednesday. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic and its weight-loss treatment Wegovy. Aspen is betting on generic versions of the drug to drive growth in emerging markets and selected international markets.
It expects to begin selling the product in Canada, Brazil and South Africa in the coming months. Semaglutide has lost patent protection, which has set off a race among drugmakers to launch lower-cost versions.
The South African market is already sizeable. Sales of GLP-1 medicines have grown to nearly 3 billion rand ($182 million), according to Aspen, with Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro accounting for more than half. Aspen knows that market well, as it is Lilly’s distributor for Mounjaro in sub-Saharan Africa. The numbers point to strong demand for obesity and diabetes treatments.
Aspen is sourcing the active pharmaceutical ingredient from third-party suppliers. For the Canadian market, that includes India’s Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.
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