Aspen Pharmacare posts R1bn loss amid contractual dispute, but optimistic about weight-loss drugs

The Money Show's Stephen Grootes interviews Sean Capazorio, Group Finance Officer at Aspen Pharmacare Holdings.

South African drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare has reported a loss for the financial year to end-June 2025.

This comes amid contract issues (mRNA products) and billions in impairments, which the company did warn shareholders about in their June SENS announcement.

Operating profit plunged 79% to R1.4 billion from R7 billion for the previous period.

Group revenue was down 3% to R43.4 billion, while normalised EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) dropped 15% to R9.6 billion.

Headline earnings per share (HEPS) fell 42% to 792.1 cents a share.

On the upside, the pharmaceutical giant is optimistic about its involvement in weight-loss management drugs.

As a sales agent for Eli Lilly, Aspen has now obtained regulatory approvalto start launching the injector pen of the popular diabetes drug Mounjaro in South Africa, after launching it in vials for Type 2 diabetes last December.

"From an original product perspective, we do have the agency for Lilly in South Africa, so we've launched Mounjaro here on their behalf and that has done exceptionally well... It's for diabetes but we have applied for weigh loss indication and also a different delivery form."

Sean Capazorio, Group Finance Officer - Aspen Pharmacare Holdings

"For the generic strategy, we've invested in our own intellectual property and gone into partnerships with some development houses. That is a strategy where we're targeting emerging markets where specific patent protection will start expiring in 2026."

Sean Capazorio, Group Finance Officer - Aspen Pharmacare Holdings

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