Aspen is a salutary reminder that aspirant blue-chip companies don't necessarily need a long track record. CEO Stephen Saad led the acquisition of SA Druggists for R2,4bn in 1999, and confounded the sceptics by paying off a R1bn debt within five years. Now Aspen supplies 25% of the tablets or capsules in SA's public health-care system . But increased demand has meant pressure on capacity.