By Nqobile Dludla
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare has started registering GLP-1 drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity in markets where patents are expiring soon, for approval to start manufacturing and selling likely in 2026, the CEO said on Tuesday.
Drugmakers across the globe are looking to grab a slice of the weight-loss drugs market, which is estimated to reach at least $100 billion by the end of the decade.
Aspen, which also has a presence in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Australasia and Europe, wants a slice of the 1 billion patient pool covering type 2 diabetes and obesity as patents for these drugs expire as early as 2026 in emerging markets, Aspen CEO Stephen Saad told investors.
But the current market is characterised by treatments that are expensive and by global capacity shortages.
“To have supply in an environment which has a big market but is already strained, gives you a sense of how important supply is going to be here,” Saad said.
Aspen secured a license agreement for the intellectual property associated with generic semaglutides for early patent expiration countries, presenting it with commercial and manufacturing opportunities.
“We have started submitting dossiers globally…..and we’ve already had responses received from a really stringent regulator,” Saad said, without sharing further details as talks are confidential.
“We’ve got confidence now in both the quality and acceptability of the dossier and we expect to achieve entry for market formation.”
Saad told Reuters in an interview that he believes there is a bigger market opportunity for affordable drugs, which will drive a surge in global volumes as more patients access these treatments, particularly if they can pay for them out of their own pockets.
“It’s very hard to get these products that are very expensive. So what we’re hoping to do is bring a much more quality product much more affordably,” Saad told Reuters.
The first revenue generated by Aspen from its GLP-1 initiatives could be as early as the latter part of financial year 2026, the company said.
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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