If there’s one thing to be said of Stephen Saad, it’s that he’s determined. Having overseen the building of Aspen into the world’s sixth-largest generic pharmaceuticals group, he’s now targeting another decade of super growth. The past three years have been marked by feverish activity, with Aspen spending more than R20bn acquiring off-patent therapeutic anticoagulant and thrombolytic drug brands, as well as their intellectual property rights. Active pharmaceutical ingredient plants in France and the Netherlands were also brought on board. "It is part of Aspen’s strategy to own the entire value chain," says Alec Abraham, of Sasfin Securities. Saad doesn’t downplay the challenges Aspen has faced. "It has been an incredibly difficult period for us," he says. He stresses, though, that it has been worth it. "We have built a very strong manufacturing, distribution and technology platform across the world that can support a business twice the size we are now."
And Aspen is still buil...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.