Aspen targets $124mn in African Mounjaro sales as GLP-1 market surges

Aspen Pharmacare (APNJ) expects African sales of Eli Lilly's (LLY) Mounjaro to exceed two billion rand ($124mn) in its current financial year, as soaring demand in South Africa is complemented by planned market entries in Nigeria and Kenya.

Stephen Saad, Aspen's chief executive, told investors that the company had submitted Mounjaro for registration in both countries, with each having the potential to contribute to earnings in the year to end-June 2027 if approvals are secured. "We're hoping to do more than 2 billion rand in sales in financial year 2027," Saad said. The company had previously guided for over 1.3 billion rand in sales for the year to end-June 2026, though it has not disclosed final figures.

South Africa's GLP-1 market nearly doubled in value to 2.8 billion rand over the year to June, driven by surging demand for Mounjaro, which was launched in the country in late 2024. The drug's share of the domestic GLP-1 market climbed to 53 per cent from 15 per cent a year earlier.

Aspen, sub-Saharan Africa's largest pharmaceuticals company and Lilly's official distributor of Mounjaro in the region, is also advancing plans to launch a generic version of Novo Nordisk's (NVO) Ozempic in selected markets once the relevant patents expire. The company has secured two registrations in Canada and filed applications across several emerging markets, including Brazil.

The timing of Aspen's Canadian commercial launch remains dependent on the availability of active pharmaceutical ingredient from India's Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (RDY), which halted production of new batches in July owing to an impurity issue. Saad said the company expected greater clarity on the supply arrangement before the end of September.