Aspen Pharmacare, Pursuing J&J Vaccine License, Aims to Shore up Local Capacity and Quash Shot Inequality in Africa
History is repeating for Aspen Pharmacare. Nearly 20 years ago, as Africa grappled with an HIV epidemic, Aspen pioneered the first generic antiretroviral on the continent. Now, it has a chance to do something similar with Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.
This time, however, the South African drugmaker’s contribution could be even more of a “game changer,” thanks to the scope of the pandemic and the disproportionate toll it’s taken on Africa, an Aspen executive told Fierce Pharma.
Aspen earlier this week signed a nonbinding term sheet with two J&J subsidiaries in a bid to license and sell the company’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in Africa. The potentially “monumental” agreement is big for two reasons, Stavros Nicolaou, Ph.D., group senior executive of strategic trade at Aspen Pharma Group, said in an interview.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Schludi.
Source: Fierce Pharma (link opens in a new window)
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- Coronavirus, Health Care
- Tags
- human rights, vaccines
