South African pharma firm aims to double sales

MANILA, Philippines - South-Africa-based Aspen PharmaCare Holdings Limited aims to grow its new business in the Philippines from P500 million in sales to P1 billion by 2013.

Aspen Philippines was established in October 2011 but started operations in January with four employees, eventually expanding its workforce to 100 in two months. It has an initial capitalization of P300 million.

Aspen Philippines distributes branded and generic brands of antibiotic, anti-hypertensive, anti-gout, anti-platelet, anti-hypothyroidism, and anti-cancer medicines. It has partnered with Zuellig Pharma Corporation to ensure that Aspen products are available in the market. The drugs will be imported from manufacturing facilities in South Africa, Germany and Italy.

Aspen Philippines CEO Ace Itchon said three brands of antibiotics, however, are produced locally under the generic names of Cefaclor, Erythromycin and Co-trimoxazol.

She said that Aspen’s anti-cancer drugs, which have been priced at least 50 percent lower than its competitors, may help the local subsidiary gain foothold in the Philippine market. But for now, it is too early to say if the subsidiary would be capable of substantially lowering the price of their drugs.

The global pharmaceutical firm is expanding in Asia for the first time and is using the Philippines as a starting point.

“With Aspen Philippines, we are really going into Asia. This is a growth market for us,” said Greg Lan, Aspen CEO for Australia during the launch in Makati yesterday. “At the same time, it is also a daunting process. People do not know who we are.”

In a statement, Aspen Group chief executive Stephen Saad said the company’s expansion to the Philippines is part of its expansion strategy into emerging markets.

“We take great pride in formally opening our office in the Philippines. This business initiative forms part of Aspen’s stated global expansion strategy into emerging and established markets,“ he said.

Lan said, however, that as of the moment, there is still no plans of opening a manufacturing facility in the Philippines.

Aspen PharmaCare currently manufactures branded and generic medicines for cardiology, metabolism, neurology, dermatology, and oncology. It has 18 manufacturing facilities in 13 sites on five continents. Its 800 products are available in 100 countries.

“If the opportunity will present itself, we will not say no. Right now, we just want to service the operations,” said Lan.

Guest speaker Senator Edgardo Angara who authored the Philhealth Act, said Aspen’s entry into the Philippine market shows that the country is one of the strongest among the emerging markets in Asia.

“That Aspen has chosen to set up shop first in the Philippines only proves further that we are one of the strongest emerging markets in Asia. And this is a bright, exciting and enticing opportunity,” he said during the launch.