DFC, IFC, Proparco, and DEG invest US$552 M in Aspen to boost African medicine production

SOUTH AFRICA—The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and its partners have unveiled a collaborative financing package for Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited (Aspen) to boost the production and distribution of essential medicines and vaccines across Africa.

This joint initiative includes contributions from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Proparco, and the German Development Finance Institution (DEG).

This €500 million (US$552.21 million) financing package will be provided to Aspen Treasury Ireland Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Aspen.

The funding includes €110 million (US 121.51 million) from DFC, €150 million (US165.66 million) from IFC’s account, and an additional €240 million (US 265.06 million) in parallel loans secured from DEG and Proparco, a subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement, the development finance arm of the French Government.

This financial support was announced in the presence of Aspen’s Group CEO Stephen Saad, DFC CEO Scott Nathan, IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop, Proparco CEO Françoise Lombard, and Monika Beck, a member of DEG’s Management Board.

Aspen, a global specialty and branded multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in South Africa, is set to benefit significantly from this funding.

The loan package aligns with Aspen’s “Manufacturing in Africa for Africa” strategy, which aims to enhance the production and accessibility of critical medications on the continent.

This strategy, developed in partnership with international pharmaceutical companies, prioritizes the manufacturing of essential medicines such as insulins and pediatric vaccines.

In addition to increasing local production, the loan will support Aspen’s distribution and promotional agreements, ensuring that life-saving medicines are more widely available across Sub-Saharan Africa.

 The funding will also strengthen Aspen’s financial resilience and provide for its working capital needs, positioning the company to meet growing demand across the continent.

This latest investment builds on a strong history of support from IFC in Africa’s pharmaceutical sector.

Since 1999, IFC has invested and directly mobilized approximately US$1.4 billion in the industry. This new project extends its earlier €600 million (US$662.72 million) long-term financing package to Aspen in South Africa.

The earlier package was intended to support vaccine production for African countries and contribute to the long-term resilience of the continent’s health sector.

In addition to this investment, Aspen recently presented its financial results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, during which Group CEO Stephen Saad disclosed Aspen’s planned expansion into the GLP-1 domain, which would commence in 2026.

According to Saad, the company’s revenue rose by 10% to R44.7 billion (US$2.5 billion) in FY 2024, up from R40.7 billion (US$2.27 billion) in FY 2023.

He emphasised that Aspen’s entry into the GLP-1 space will create significant market opportunities, attributing this shift in strategy to the recent acquisition of a commercial license for intellectual property related to GLP-1 treatments following the expiration of patents for the original product. 

With this licence, Aspen will be better positioned to commercialise these therapies, as well as gain an exclusive worldwide supplier role to distribute and promote Eli Lilly’s diabetic medicine Mounjaro throughout South Africa in 2023. 

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