CASE STUDY No orders for Aspen's vaccine - it may have to shut its PE line Aspen needs clear commitments within weeks from African governments for orders of its Covid-19 vaccine or will recommit that production line in PE to more in-demand aesthetics. The continent's biggest drugmaker has been let down by the lack of interest in the shots - a locally made version of Johnson & Johnson's dose, according to head of strategic trade, Stavros Nicolaou. "We had counted on, and were assured, that the regional manufacturing platform was critical and would be supported," Nicolaou said by phone. "We had banked on these initial volumes to give us the time to enable us to pivot to other vaccines." Aspen is only making a "trickle" of coronavirus vaccines off the line, he said, and has not had any orders for its own-branded shot earmarked for sale directly in Africa. The situation is a setback for Africa's plans to catch up with more developed countries' Covid-19 vaccination rates, and prepare for the possibility of future pandemics. President Cyril Ramaphosa had been part of a movement that criticized rich nations for hoarding vaccines and tried to force pharmaceutical companies to share inoculation recipes, though take up remains relatively low. Aspen understands that African countries now have more shots than they have been able to administer, keeping the line open for the newly-named Aspenovax vaccine may not make economic sense if orders are not imminent, Nicolaou said. John Nkengasong, director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, has said talks about how to raise demand for Covid-19 vaccines are underway and has appealed to African countries to place orders with local manufacturers. "The reality is that if Aspen cannot obtain production, what hope is there for others?" Nicolaou said. SA's Aspen Covid-19 vaccine plant risks closure after no orders - executive Africa's first Covid-19 vaccination plant, touted last year as a trailblazer for an under-vaccinated continent frustrated by sluggish Western handouts, risks shutting down after receiving not a single order, a company executive said on Saturday. Aspen Pharmacare negotiated a licencing deal in November to package and sell Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine and distribute it across Africa. The World Health Organisation (WHO) called the deal a "transformative moment" in the drive towards levelling stark inequalities in access to Covid-19 vaccines. With only a sixth of adults in Africa fully vaccinated, according to the latest WHO figures from the end of March, Aspen's agreement to sell an Aspen-branded Covid-19 vaccine, Aspenovax, throughout Africa seemed like a sure bet. South Africa, which has vaccinated 30% of its population, also looks set to experience a fifth wave of infections. "Yet, there've been no orders received for Aspenovax," Aspen senior director Stavros Nicolaou told Reuters over the phone. "If we don't get any kind of vaccine orders, then clearly there'll be very little rationale for retaining the lines that we're currently using for production," he said of the Covid-19 vaccine plant in PE, the Eastern Cape. African countries have struggled with logistical issues, lack of skilled staff, cold chains and other problems surrounding the distribution of vaccines. Another issue is that, after initially leaving Africa out in the cold, donor countries have since paid up and the continent is now well supplied. Nicolaou said in the long run, the aim was to shift to producing other vaccines but the firm had banked on these initial volumes to buy it time to establish the operation. "If you don't breach this short-term gap with orders, you can't sustain these capacities on the continent," he added, at a time when health officials want to vaccinate three-quarters of the continent's population. The African Union's goal is to produce 60% of all vaccines administered in Africa locally by 2040, up from the current 1%, and several such plants are being set up. "If Aspen doesn't get production, what chance is there for any of the other initiatives?" Nicolaou said.

Question 2 (10 Marks)

With reference to the case study, justify how Aspen can contribute positively towards sustainable environmental practices ? Your answer should include the following : - Compliance with environmental policies - International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 14000