Aspen of South Africa pays 25 million euros to resolve an mRNA contract dispute

Aspen Pharmacare (APNJ.J), the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in South Africa, announced on Friday that it has settled a contractual dispute with a client over a manufacturing and technology agreement for mRNA products for 25 million euros ($29.2 million).

Aspen’s shares fell more than 30% the day after company issued a profit warning citing the disagreement with a contract manufacturing customer, causing the market to react sharply when the dispute was first revealed in April.

Additionally, the company cautioned that normalized earnings from its manufacturing division might be two billion rand less than what was previously projected.

When Aspen presented its interim results in March, it stated that the issue had come “from left field” and that management was unaware of it.

Potential ramifications for its French sterile manufacturing facility, which is a major contributor to profitability in its half-year earnings, were highlighted.

Aspen stated that the payment, which is due on December 1st of this year, settles the issue in complete and final settlement, but it did not identify the counterparty.

At 1231 GMT, the stock was up over 2%.