Aspen Pharmacare announced that its plan for producing Gilead Sciences' lenacapavir, is "off the table" because Government would not guarantee purchase volumes from local manufacturers who invest in production, reported Business Day on 4 September 2026
Although Aspen had reached an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to have the Aspen-labelled Covid-19 vaccine bottled for Africa, it had not received any orders. The SA National AIDS Council (SANAC) maintains that the withdrawal does not halt its efforts to achieve local production of lenacapavir and to reduce dependence on imports.
“The fact that Aspen has pulled out reveals the fundamental conflict at the heart of SA’s initiative to promote local manufacturing: companies will not be willing to commit capital to setting up complicated sterile production processes unless there is a firm agreement to buy the product, and so far Government has not been prepared to guarantee such an agreement.”