Aspen Pharmacare has signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India to manufacture and sell four Aspen-branded vaccines for Africa. This move comes as it seeks to utilise its near-idle COVID-19 vaccine production lines in South Africa.
The agreement gives Aspen an assured pipeline of vaccine orders for years to come, CEO Stephen Saad told Reuters in an interview.
Aspen shares jumped 6% in afternoon trade on Wednesday as the news of the deal broke and after it posted a 31% jump in full-year profit.
Aspen has a deal with Johnson & Johnson to convert its COVID-19 vaccine into vials and earlier this year it extended its agreement to allow it to package, sell and distribute the J&J vaccine under its own brand Aspenovax for Africa.
But it has not received a single order yet for the COVID vaccine and its J&J orders under its previous contract were also “dwindling”, putting at risk its 450-million-dose vaccine production line, reported Reuters.
Saad and other executives told Reuters early in August that Aspen might look at changing the COVID vaccine lines to manufacture anaesthetics or other products.
“(It’s) not a great way to run a factory and to keep people employed with uncertainty,” Saad said, pointing out the lack of COVID-19 vaccine orders.
But Saad cautioned it would take at least a year for the manufacturing of new vaccines to start. Until then Aspen hopes to secure orders for Aspenovax.
Under the Serum agreement, Aspen will produce hexavalent, pneumococcal, polyvalent meningococcal and rotavirus shots – all vaccines commonly administered in Africa – it said in a statement. The two companies may also discuss expanding the agreement to include new products.
