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According to the company website, Aspen Holdings was founded in 1850 by Berry Grey Lennon, an Irish chemist, who opened a drug store in Port Elizabeth shortly after arriving in South Africa. Within 34 years, B.G. Lennon & Co. thrived enough to place an advertisement in the first issue of the South African Medical Journal. In 1898, it established itself as Lennon Ltd and Aspen Pharmacare carries the same registration number to date.
20th century
By 1911, Lennon Ltd had 21 pharmacies and by 1930 it was the largest pharmaceutical company in the Southern Hemisphere. Mergers continued throughout the 50's and 60's. In 1968, it was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as part of South African Druggists. In 1975, Lennon started a research and development department to develop and register generic drugs. In 1996, Lennon unbundled from South African Druggists. After Aspen Healthcare Ltd was founded in 1997 by Stephen Saad , Gus Attridge and Steve Sturlese it bought South African Druggists in a hostile take over in 1999.
21st Century
In 2001, Aspen expanded to Australia. In 2003, Boehringer Ingelheim and GlaxoSmithKline granted Aspen licenses to create generic versions of antiretrovirals for use in the Sub-Saharan portion of Africa after complaints of anticompetitive activities, when Aspen was already the largest generic medicine distributor in South Africa. Aspen built an Oral Solid Dosage drug facility in Port Elizabeth producing stavudine, Africa's first generic antiretroviral. Subsequent inspections by international organizations led to a rapid increase in distribution capabilities, primarily though integration with alliance partners. Aspen's efforts led to expanded access to affordable treatments for HIV/AIDS. In 2004 Aspen acquired Fine Chemicals in Cape Town, the only producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients in South Africa and Infacare from Royal Numico.
In 2005, Aspen was granted license by Merck & Co. to produce efavirenz and by 2006 Aspen was the largest supplier of ARVs in Africa.
In 2008, GSK granted Aspen rights to produce levothyroxine, azathioprine, digoxin and allopurinol and sold its production site in Bad Oldesloe Northern Germany. The same year, Aspen expanded to South America. In 2009, GSK granted Aspen rights to produce melphalan and received a 16% shareholding in return.In 2013, Aspen expanded its infant nutrition from Nestlé in Australia, bought an active pharmaceutical ingredient unit by MSD and anticoagulant rights. In 2014, it had expanded into 21 countries, and built new global headquarters. In 2016, it bought intellectual property and manufacturing rights for Astra Zeneca´s anaesthetics. Since 2018 the company admits a "commercial focus on specialised therapies", i.e. specialty drugs. By 2022, anticoagulants and anaesthetics made up 30% of Aspens business.
