APN - Aspen - Key Arv Products Viread* And Truvada* Registered By Mcc

APN - Aspen - Key Arv Products Viread* And Truvada* Registered By Mcc           
ASPEN PHARMACARE HOLDINGS LIMITED                                               
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)                                  
Registration number 1985/0002935/06                                             
Share code:  APN                                                                
ISIN:        ZAE000066692                                                       
("Aspen" or "the Company")                                                      
KEY ARV PRODUCTS VIREAD* AND TRUVADA* REGISTERED BY MCC                         
JSE listed Aspen, a leading global manufacturer and distributor of Anti-        
Retroviral (ARV) Medicines, today announced that it has been granted            
certification from the Medicines Control Council of South Africa (MCC) to       
manufacture and distribute the two key ARV products Viread* (tenofovir          
disoproxil fumarate) and Truvada* (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil       
fumarate) in the South African market.  This certification enables              
immediate availability of these two products to South African patients,         
particularly the many hundreds that have been receiving treatment with          
these medicines under the special named patient exemption permitted by MCC.     
Both Viread and Truvada have extensive usage in North America, Europe and       
some African countries.  Last week both products were included in the World     
Health Organisation`s revised Essential Medicines List.                         
The registration of Viread and Truvada follows the non-exclusive                
manufacturing, licensing, technology transfer and distribution agreement        
which Aspen entered into in 2005 with leading research-based                    
biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD).  Under this     
agreement, Aspen will manufacture and distribute these products for all 53      
African countries.                                                              
On receipt of the certification, Aspen Group CE, Stephen Saad said, "Both       
Viread and Truvada represent significant advantages for patients to             
existing first line ARV treatments, for example patient compliance is           
enhanced through simpler and more convenient dosing, and Viread and Truvada     
do not seem to exhibit some of the unwanted side effects that place             
patients at increased risk of other morbidities with some of the other          
ARVs."                                                                          
Saad went on to comment that, "Tenofovir is now the most prescribed             
molecule for the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients in the United States, and       
the MCC`s certification means that South African patients can now begin to      
enjoy the same benefits as patients have in the developed world, but at         
significantly reduced prices. The market availability of Viread and Truvada     
has been long anticipated by South African patients, particularly given the     
scale up of AIDS treatment in South Africa and many existing and new  South     
African patients now stand to benefit from this certification, in a country     
when the total number of infected HIV patients is the second highest in the     
world."                                                                         
24 April 2007                                                                   
Sponsor:                                                                        
Investec Bank Limited                                                           
* Registered Trademark                                                          
Date: 24/04/2007 12:55:23 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za                     
Produced by the JSE SENS Department.