Johannesburg, South Africa – Aspen Pharmacare, a global specialty and branded pharmaceutical company and Africa’s largest pharmaceutical company, has announced a further investment of some R500 million to its flagship pharmaceutical manufacturing site in Gqeberha.
The announcement comes in the wake of more than R8 billion which Aspen has already invested in this world class manufacturing site in the Eastern Cape. Implementation of the project commenced in November 2021 and the investment will provide additional capacity for fill and finish of a range of sterile products including vaccines.
Addressing guests at the South Africa Investment Conference hosted by President Cyril Ramaphosa, Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen Group Senior Executive Strategic Trade said, “Aspen remains committed to South Africa – this is where our roots are, so Gqeberha is a natural base from which to expand our manufacturing capacity for the African continent. This additional investment in capacity expansion will increase output of our 2R vaccine vials from 60 million to 150 million per annum and it will assist Africa in addressing the unequal distribution of vaccines and provide enhanced capacity for pandemic preparedness.”
As a strong advocate of local partnerships, Aspen has engaged engineering consultants and contractors from Gqerberha and Johannesburg for the project which is expected to complete in March 2023. Aspen’s highly specialised sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities at the site provide employment and skills development opportunities to nearly 500 employees.