challenges linked to obtaining approvals from authorities in the US, as well as South Africa, and other problems related to imports of the drug substance.
So far, the Durban-based pharmaceutical company has only been involved in the final stages of manufacturing the J&J vaccine under a “fill and finish” deal. But according to Aspen’s chief executive Stephen Saad, the two companies are currently discussing broader deal for the South African manufacturer to produce the COVID-19 shot under license. This would mean that Aspen would not only secure the right to price the vaccine, but also brand it and decide where it is sold.
“We have to get through a lot of technical details. But all (is) progressing well and we expect to respond shortly. It’s not going to be months and months away,” he said, during the opening of Aspen’s anesthetic manufacturing facility in Gqeberha, in eastern South Africa.
The deal, if agreed, would be critical in expanding vaccination campaigns in Africa, where countries have been falling behind in their immunisation efforts as their bilateral deals with wealthier nations on the supply of vaccines failed to materialise. By the end of September, only 4.4 per cent of the continent’s populations had been fully vaccinated, while in the UK this figure was at 66 per cent, in the EU about 62 per cent and in the US, it was at 55 per cent.
Accordingly, the African drug maker plans to ramp up its production capacity over the next few years to respond to a potential increase in demand. “We have got an absolute commitment to 700 million doses till February 2023… within a year after that, we could get (to) 1.3 billion doses,” Saad noted.
