The SA Pharmaceutical Market could boost economic growth

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Economic recovery post-COVID-19 means that there are huge opportunities for increased partnerships between businesses in South Africa. For instance, Aspen Pharmacare and multinational pharmaceuticals will continue to strengthen their position in South Africa, according to a report by Fitch Solutions.

Aspen pharmaceutical, headquartered in Durban, has signed a deal to package and sell Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine in Africa. Aspen is focused on improving the health of patients across the world, through its high-quality and affordable medicines. With a presence of more than two decades in the pharmaceutical sector, Aspen has improved the health of patients in more than 150 countries.

The Fitch Solutions report further states that foreign pharmaceutical companies will continue to look to South African companies for partnerships as a launching platform to enter sub-Saharan Africa. “The company has a long-term co-marketing agreement with Novartis South Africa, while it also has a right-of-use for IP and a mutual cooperation agreement for South Africa with Generics (UK) and Merck Generics RSA, both subsidiaries of Germany-based Merck.”

Aspen is Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer and a major supplier of branded generic pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and nutritional products. What this means for the country, according to Fitch Solutions, is that the local pharmaceutical market would see strong growth, supported by the growing presence of multinational companies, forecasting the market to reach R172.7-billion by 2031.

“We expect an accelerating market growth trend, with the prescription medicine market continuing to dominate pharmaceutical expenditure over our forecast period”, says the report.

South Africa’s pharmaceutical market will therefore see strong growth over the coming years, supported by the growing presence of multinational companies. The report forecasts that the market will grow by a CAGR of 8.3% in local currency terms and 5.4% in US dollar terms over the next ten years, to reach ZAR172.7bn (USD8.9bn) by 2031.

Aspen packages close to 300 million doses a year of J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa. This affirms South Africa’s capabilities to be of a global standard especially following the discovery and the detection of the variant now known as Omicron.

As declared by President Ramaphosa during his State of the Nation Address recently, “our best defense against COVID-19 remains to choose vaccination”. He added that:

The more we vaccinate the safer we will be.

  • Global experience has shown that vaccinated people are 99 percent guaranteed to survive COVID-19.
  • Evidence has also shown that those who do NOT vaccinate are ten times more likely to die if they contract the virus.
  • By vaccinating, we not only reduce the risk of serious illness, hospitalisation, and death but also reduce the risk of future deadly variants.
  • Vaccines help your immune system fight infections faster and more effectively.

For the full report click, Fitch solutions report here

Source Fitch solutions report here; Sunday World