South Africa Manufacturer Plans to Stop Making COVID-19 Vaccines

South Africa-based Aspen Pharmacare said it plans to stop production of COVID-19 vaccines within weeks because the company has received no orders.

Aspen entered into a vaccine manufacturing deal in March 2022 with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to manufacture and distribute the J&J vaccine as Aspenovax.

But the World Health Organization and Gavi, its COVID-19 vaccine partner, recently said they have no immediate plans to order vaccines from the company and supply has exceeded the demand for the vaccine.

The plant, which has already produced more than 200 million vaccine doses, will return to its former focus on production of anesthetics, the company said.