* Mounjaro boosts South African weight-loss drug market

value

* Mounjaro competes with Novo's Wegovy and Ozempic in

South Africa

* Africa is seen as next big growth market

* Mounjaro's market share in South Africa rose to 52% by

January

By Nqobile Dludla

JOHANNESBURG, March 4 (Reuters) - Aspen Pharmacare

aims to secure sub-Saharan African approval for Eli

Lilly's ( LLY ) blockbuster weight-loss drug Mounjaro as early

as this year, its CEO said on Wednesday, capitalising on soaring

regional demand for obesity treatments.

South Africa-based Aspen's push to register Mounjaro across

the region signals its bid to become a key manufacturing and

distribution partner for global drugmakers eyeing one of the

last major untapped markets for GLP-1 weight-loss treatments.

GLP-1 treatments are not yet widely available in the

continent, offering both growth potential and a test of how

quickly such drugs can reach lower-income countries.

The registration in South Africa "of the KwikPen(a

pre-filled multi-injection device) gave us an opportunity now to

register the product across sub-Saharan Africa, and we expect

registrations from as early as this calendar year," CEO Stephen

Saad told investors a day after reporting its earnings.

MOUNJARO DRIVING DEMAND FOR GLP-1 DRUGS

Mounjaro, launched in South Africa late in 2024, has driven

surging demand for weight-loss drugs, pushing the GLP-1 market

to about 2.2 billion rand ($133.64 million) and still growing,

Saad said.

The market's value has tripled in 18 months, with Mounjaro's

share more than doubling to 52% at the end of January from 21%

in the quarter ended April 2025, helped largely by regulatory

approval for chronic weight management, Saad added.

He expects sales of Mounjaro to be over 1.3 billion rand

($78.97 million) in the year through June.

"It will be the quickest brand to reach a billion rand sales

in the South African private market," he said.

In South Africa, the U.S. drugmaker Lilly competes with

Denmark's Novo Nordisk, which makes Wegovy and

Ozempic and has indicated plans to expand into Africa following

its South Africa launch of Wegovy.

($1 = 16.4625 rand)