The terms of the MOU provide for Aspen to act as a third party to Roche in respect of the sales, marketing and distribution for Tamiflu® in South Africa.
“It is our vision to partner with respected organisations to bring existing medicines to even more patients and thus Roche recognises that we have a role to play in broader health-system partnerships that make a real difference to patients,” said David Gibbons, general manager, Roche Pharma South Africa.
“This partnership is another sign of our unwavering commitment to strengthen and enable quicker access to medications to help improve outcomes of influenza patients,” added Gibbons.
Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen Group senior executive strategic trade development said: “The past two years have demonstrated the impact that pandemics can have on lives and livelihoods.
"We are noting an increase in mixed infections in parallel with seasonal influenza, which exacerbates comorbidities and mortalities."
Tamiflu has a proven track record in reducing seasonal influenza, mortality and morbidity and Aspen is excited at the prospect of working together with Roche in enhancing access to treatment for seasonal influenza and improving patient outcomes.
The timing of this agreement is important, given the challenging trajectory that our economy is facing and the need to improve productivity by keeping people healthy. This agreement enables Aspen to extend our sales and distribution footprint by helping to bring Roche products to patients that need these medicines and equally to positively contribute to our country’s public-health burden and economic recovery.
“At Roche, we put patients at the centre of everything we do, and thus we will continue to work with partners across the world to improve access to medicines, so that patients who need our medicines, can gain access to current standards of care,” concluded Gibbons.
