Aspen Pharmacare has welcomed the 7.5% increase in the single exit price for medicines and scheduled substances announced on December 29 by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi as well as the early timing of its implementation.In the past, the implementation of the annual price adjustment was delayed for several months, which had a significant detrimental effect on pharmaceutical manufacturers, especially when the exchange rate of the rand deteriorated dramatically in the interim. This time, however, implementation will be in January.Aspen senior executive Stavros Nicolaou said the multinational welcomed the minister’s announcement in terms of both the quantum and the timing of the implementation on January 6, which he said was "probably the earliest ever".The single exit price adjustment is applied annually by the minister on the basis of a formula and sets the increase in the factory gate price of medicines and scheduled substances. The formula takes into account both the inflation ra...

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