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JOHANNESBURG: Aspen Pharmacare expects African sales \u200cof Eli Lilly\u2019s blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drug Mounjaro to exceed 2 billion rand ($124 million) in its current financial year, buoyed by surging demand in South Africa and planned launches in \u200bNigeria and Kenya.<\/strong><\/p>\n The South African company is Lilly\u2019s official distributor of Mounjaro \u200bin sub-Saharan Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n A day after reporting annual results, Chief Executive Stephen Saad \u2060told investors on Thursday that Aspen had submitted Mounjaro for registration in Kenya \u200band Nigeria, with both markets having the potential to contribute to earnings in its \u200bcurrent financial year to end-June if approved.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to do more than 2 billion rand in sales in financial year 2027,\u201d Saad said about Mounjaro. He had previously forecast over 1.3 billion \u200brand in sales for the year to end-June 2026, although the company has \u200bnot disclosed its actual sales figure.<\/span><\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s GLP-1 market nearly doubled in value to 2.8 billion \u200crand \u2060over the year to June, driven largely by soaring demand for Mounjaro. The drug, launched late in 2024, increased its share of the market to a dominant 53% from 15% a year earlier, Saad said.<\/span><\/p>\n Africa\u2019s biggest pharmaceuticals company is also \u200badvancing plans to launch \u200ba generic version \u2060of Novo Nordisk\u2019s Ozempic in selected markets once patents expire, having secured two registrations in Canada and filed applications across \u200bseveral emerging markets.<\/span><\/p>\n The timing of Aspen\u2019s commercial launch in Canada \u200bremains dependent \u2060on the availability of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) from India\u2019s Dr. Reddy\u2019s Laboratories, which halted production of new batches in July because of an impurity issue.<\/span><\/p>\nBEYOND MOUNJARO<\/span><\/h2>\n