Aspen Pharmacare has welcomed both the 7.5% increase in the single exit price for medicines and scheduled substances announced 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, having a significant detrimental impact 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 increase is applied annually by the minister on the basis of a formula and determines the increase in the factory gate price of medicines and scheduled substances. The formula takes into account both the inflation rate and...
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