Drug firms expected to drop case over cut-price medicines
Speculation is mounting that pharmaceutical companies challenging a South African law allowing the import of cut-price drugs are to drop their case. The firms, which include Switzerland's Novartis and Roche, have been criticised for putting profits ahead of lives.
The legal battle between 39 pharmaceutical firms and the South African government resumed in the courts on Wednesday, and was immediately postponed at the firms’ request.
A lawyer representing the companies, Fanie Cilliers, said the delay had been requested “so common ground can be found for a settlement”.
A spokesman representing the South African government said a settlement was imminent.
Their comments follow speculation in the South African media that the companies are preparing to abandon their case.
It centres on a South African law adopted in 1997 – but never implemented – which gives the health minister a limited right to import generic versions of patented drugs or to license their domestic production.
The drug companies argue that the law infringes patent rights and discriminates against the industry, endangering profits and research.
But the South African government maintains that it cannot afford to pay for patented drugs to fight the Aids epidemic, which has affected about 10 per cent of the country’s population of 45 million.
Calls to withdraw
Non-governmental organisations have weighed in on the South African government’s side. On Tuesday, a group of 28 development and aid organisations, including Swissaid and Terre des Hommes, called on Roche and Novartis to withdraw from the case.
They said it was “shocking that [the firms] should give higher priority to preserving their profit margins and patents than the health of millions of people”.
Their arguments have been echoed by the United Nations programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS). Policy adviser, Ben Plumley, said drug firms needed to re-think their approach to poorer countries.
“The kind of dynamic that exists in the industrialised world – where drug companies recoup their investment in research and development and provide return to shareholders – should not apply in the same way in the developing world.”
The British charity, Oxfam, described the case as “the Vietnam of the drug industry” and accused the firms of violating human rights by denying drugs to those in need.
He added that the case was a public relations disaster for the firms involved.
The pharmaceutical companies refused to comment on the case, saying they would issue a statement later on Wednesday.
swissinfo with agencies
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