ASPEN’S BAD TRIP
From industry darling to villain? FM goes inside Aspen's competition battle
Price gouging is not in Aspen’s DNA, says founder Stephen Saad, incensed at the thought that his company would exploit the sick. But Aspen’s predicament, and that of all drug firms, boils down to the tension between a drug company’s perceived responsibility to provide life-saving drugs to patients at a reasonable price, and its natural objective to turn a profit Stephen Saad’s frustration at Aspen being branded a "price gouger" that drove up the cost of life-saving medicine for profit is palpable. In an interview with the Financial Mail, the 53-year-old says Aspen Pharmacare has been the victim of a "perfect storm" that has led to his company being unfairly cast as a villain. "That was probably the most disappointing part: you’ve got a company that loves SA, has created thousands of jobs, loves what it does, provided antiretrovirals that many people rely on and created a huge saving for government — and the media turned on us," he says. Ripping people off, he says, just isn’t in Asp...
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