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South Africa’s Aspen expands further into Asia with Sandoz China deal

South Africa’s Aspen expands further into Asia with Sandoz China deal

 ASPEN Pharmacare is expanding further into China through a deal to buy the Chinese business of Swiss group Sandoz for up to 92.6 million euros ($100.6 million), the South African company said. As part of the deal, Aspen Global Incorporated, a subsidiary of Aspen, will also buy the selling and intellectual property rights of a portfolio of established products that include Sandostatin, Aclasta and Voriconazole. The rights will also cover a pipeline of products to be launched by Sandoz China in the short to medium term. The deal "represents an attractive opportunity for Aspen to take a major step in its stated…
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South Africa’s Aspen COVID-19 vaccine plant risks closure after no orders, executive says

South Africa’s Aspen COVID-19 vaccine plant risks closure after no orders, executive says

TIM COCKS AFRICA'S first COVID-19 vaccination plant, touted last year as a trailblazer for an under-vaccinated continent frustrated by sluggish Western handouts, risks shutting down after receiving not a single order, a company executive said. South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare negotiated a licensing deal in November to package and sell Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine and distribute it across Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) called the deal a "transformative moment" in the drive towards levelling stark inequalities in access to COVID vaccines. With only a sixth of adults in Africa fully vaccinated, according to the latest WHO figures from the end of…
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SA’s Aspen signs deal to package and sell J&J COVID vaccine

SA’s Aspen signs deal to package and sell J&J COVID vaccine

SOUTH AFRICAN drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare concluded an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to package, sell and distribute the American group's COVID-19 vaccines under its own brand in Africa. In November Aspen entered into talks with J&J for a licensing deal that would give it freedom to sell and distribute the vaccine under its own brand. The agreement also allows Aspen to "discuss the expansion of the agreement to include any new versions of the drug substance, such as those developed for new variants or a different formulation for administration as a booster", Aspen said in a statement. J&J had contracted Aspen…
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SAfrica’s Aspen seeks licence for J&J COVID shot as EU shipments halted

SAfrica’s Aspen seeks licence for J&J COVID shot as EU shipments halted

PROMIT MUKHERJEE and MAGGIE FICK ASPEN Pharmacare is in talks to make Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus shot under licence in South Africa, at what would be the continent's first major independent distribution base for a global vaccine against COVID-19, the company has announced. News of the talks coincided with the suspension of heavily criticised shipments to Europe from Africa of the same shot, which is already being made under contract and packaged by Aspen but distributed by J&J. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last month he was "stunned" by that arrangement, since Europe has very high inoculation rates while…
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Africa’s COVID vaccine project takes a step forward with bottling agreement

Africa’s COVID vaccine project takes a step forward with bottling agreement

FRANCESCO GUARASCIO SENEGAL’S Institut Pasteur of Dakar (IPD) has reached a deal with U.S. company MedInstill for the bottling of COVID-19 shots, an EU document shows, marking a step to becoming a fully-fledged maker of coronavirus vaccines for Africa. The European Union is a major financial backer of the project which aims to enable IPD to manufacture 300 million COVID-19 vaccines a year and reduce Africa's reliance on imported vaccines. IPD, however, has yet to secure a partnership with a COVID vaccine patent holder to produce shots. African countries have so far received a tiny portion of COVID-19 shots produced…
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J&J to send two million doses to S.A

J&J to send two million doses to S.A

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that Johnson & Johnson would send 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the country by the end of the month, making up for the amount lost due to contamination at a U.S. ingredient supplier. Aspen Pharmacare, J&J's local producer, had to destroy 2 million doses of the vaccine after the contamination at a plant in Baltimore, Maryland, was discovered, the latest blow to South Africa's struggling vaccination campaign. "We have received an indication from Johnson & Johnson that it expects to deliver around 2 million vaccines to South Africa by the end of…
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J&J to send S.A 300,000 vaccine doses

J&J to send S.A 300,000 vaccine doses

PROMIT MUKHERJEE JOHNSON & Johnson (J&J) will export more ready-to-administer COVID-19 vaccines to South Africa beyond the 300,000 doses already pledged, the CEO of Aspen Pharmacare has announced. South African regulator SAHPRA on Sunday said that J&J would supply the country with 300,000 finished doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in the next few days as a means to compensate for a loss of 2 million ready doses that Aspen, J&J's local contract manufacturer, will have to destroy. The watchdog's statement came a day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) asked the global pharmaceuticals giant to destroy millions of…
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S.African business group calls for vaccine focus on elderly

S.African business group calls for vaccine focus on elderly

PROMIT MUKHERJEE A South African business lobby group has called on for the government to shift the emphasis on its vaccine programme to target the elderly and vulnerable sooner, to prevent hospitals from being overrun in a third wave of COVID-19 infections. South Africa is behind schedule in the first phase of its vaccination programme, aimed at inoculating health care workers. Those over 60 or with co-morbidities are not meant to be vaccinated until a later second phase, along with other essential workers and people who work in crowded settings. Stavros Nicolaou, an executive of Aspen Pharmacare which has a…
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S.A set to be 1st African country to produce COVID-19 vaccine

S.A set to be 1st African country to produce COVID-19 vaccine

PROMIT MUKHERJEE SOUTH Africa is set to become the first African country to produce COVID-19 vaccine. Aspen Pharmacare has announced that it could start production of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines in South Africa by late March or early April if all approvals are in place. All the vaccines produced will be exported to J&J and will be a part of its global supply inventory, Stavros Nicolaou, Group Senior Executive, Strategic Trade at Aspen, added. "We are going to receive a tech transfer to contract manufacture for them (J&J)... Aspen has current capacity to manufacture up to 300 million doses…
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South Africa’s Aspen agrees initial deal to make J&J vaccine candidate

South Africa’s Aspen agrees initial deal to make J&J vaccine candidate

TANISHA HEIBERG SOUTH African pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare said on Monday it had reached a preliminary agreement with Johnson & Johnson to commercially manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, sending its shares higher. The country's biggest drugmaker said it had agreed to provide capacity required for the manufacture of J&J's vaccine candidate, which is still in clinical trials, at its Port Elizabeth facility. The agreement with J&J will see Aspen perform formulation, filling and secondary packaging of the vaccine for the U.S. firm, the company said. Aspen's shares rose more than 4% on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on the announcement. The…
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