Africa’s biggest generic drug maker, Aspen Pharmacare, said on Thursday that it was intent on carving out a niche market in the US, one of the few remaining territories in which the Durban-based company has yet to make its presence felt in a big way. Aspen markets products in more than 150 countries and sells generic and branded medicines and baby formula. "The US has to be the next frontier for us," Aspen CEO and co-founder Stephen Saad said in a telephone interview. The US offered opportunities for niche Aspen products that relied on its manufacturing technology and intellectual property rather than the commodity generics it had in its portfolio, he said as the company released its results for the six months to December. Revenue rose 13% to R19.8bn and normalised headline earnings a share increased 6% to 692c in the period. Saad’s US ambitions drew a mixed reaction from investment analysts. Sasfin Securities analyst Alec Abraham said Aspen had historically struck a good balance be...
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