Johannesburg – JSE-listed Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited (“Aspen”), a global multinational specialty pharmaceutical company, earlier today announced the local availability of Eli Lilly’s (“Lilly”) tirzepatide, marketed globally as Mounjaro®.
Mounjaro® is a once-weekly glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (“GIP”) receptor and glucagon-like peptide-1 (“GLP-1”) receptor agonist, used as an adjunct to diet and exercise to treat adults with insufficiently controlled Type II diabetes, which has been approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (“SAHPRA”).
On 30 August 2023, Aspen announced that it had entered into a distribution and promotion agreement with Lilly to extend access to Lilly’s innovative portfolio of medicines to patients in South Africa and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Stephen Saad, Aspen Group Chief Executive said, “Aspen values our relationship with Lilly and its recognition of Aspen as its chosen partner in Southern Africa to assist in contributing towards arresting non-communicable diseases (“NCDs”) which include cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. Tirzepatide is one of the therapeutic options available to physicians for the treatment of Type II diabetes, which has doubled in recent times [1], with one in two diabetic patients in South Africa being undiagnosed [2]. A strong link is evident between diabetes, heart disease and obesity which triggers the metabolic-cardio-renal complex [3] and which poses a significant financial and public health threat to an already over-burdened healthcare system, impacting lives and livelihoods. Tirzepatide represents an added therapeutic option to address the rising tide of NCDs. It will increase access and can significantly improve related health outcomes.”
Tirzepatide will be available in South Africa during the latter part of December 2024 in single-dose vials, with a KwikPen® presentation currently under evaluation at SAHPRA.
[1] Stats SA. Non-Communicable diseases in South Africa: Findings from death notifications 2008 – 2018.
Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Deaths-final.jpg (Accessed 19 December 2024).
[2] IDF (2019) Diabetes Atlas – Ninth edition 2019, International Diabetes Federation. Available at: https://www.diabetesatlas.org/upload/resources/material/20200302_133351_IDFATLAS9e-final-web.pdf (Accessed: 12 November 2024).
[3] Usman MS, Khan MS, Butler J. The Interplay Between Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, and kidney disease. 2021 Jun. In: Chronic Kidney Disease and Type 2 Diabetes. Arlington (VA): American Diabetes Association; 2021 Jun. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK571718/ doi: 10.2337/db20211-13
