Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer has five times as many South African patients using its anti-retroviral (ARV) products as it had just more than a year ago. Despite the Department of Health only procuring R83-million-worth of ARVs from Aspen in those 16 months, company CEO Stephen Saad says it has seen the number of South African patients using its ARVs grow from 20 000 a year ago to 100 000, a 500% increase.