South African Billionaire, Stephen Saad Set to Revive his COVID-19 Vaccine Production Lines

Stephen Saad, South African billionaire businessman and the owner of the renowned pharmaceutical company, Aspen Pharmacare Holdings is set to revive its idle COVID-19 vaccine production lines through his upcoming deals. 

According to a recent report by Reuters, it reveals that the company is close to signing four partnerships that could revive the vaccine production lines which are unrewarding and generating no revenue.

This recent move has caused its shares to upsurge by over 15 percent since the beginning of the week. This came as a result of the company’s agreement to receive $30 million in funding from the Gates Foundation and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to make vaccines more affordable in Africa, over three months ago.

The company had initially planned to redirect half of its COVID-19 vaccine production capacity to other products if it failed to yield any results. However, through upcoming deals, the South African Pharmaceutical Company now looks to refurbish its flunking facility, which has the capacity to produce up to one million vaccine doses daily.

Stephen Saad, Aspen’s CEO, admits his company’s investment in the COVID-19 vaccine production lines was commercially discouraging. He however, remained positive stating that new partnerships are ongoing to revamp the production line and generate revenues.

Saad stated that the company is in discussions with four multinational firms to produce other vaccines or biologics, which are medicines made from living organisms, which will further expand the company’s product range. He believes no one should sit and cry over the past and he is excited there is another plan which will beat their expectations under Covid.

He thus provided further details on the expected revenue boost from these partnerships, stating that Aspen anticipates a contribution of R2 billion ($110.22 million) in 2024, with this figure set to double to R4 billion ($220 million) by 2025 as a result of the partnerships.