![]() Cipla, an Indian company that produces cheap generic drugs, decided that it would use South Africa's patent laws to apply for a compulsory licence to supply generic antiretrovirals to South Africa. The trial was postponed to mid-April so that the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association can reply to the action campaign's argument.Īs the court case began unfolding, moves to reduce the costs of AIDS drugs were taking place outside the court arena. The judge, however, accepted the argument that the action group brought a special dimension to the trial and made it clear he believed that issues around affordability of drugs for the HIV/AIDS crisis was one which needed urgent treatment. Its application was vigorously opposed by the drug companies, which claim that they are defending their constitutional rights and the rule of law. The Treatment Action Campaign, which lobbies for cheaper access to drugs for people living with HIV and AIDS, applied to be treated as a “friend of the court” (amicus curia). ![]() This move, and the pressure internationally from human rights groups, has refocused the trial on the issue of making drugs for HIV and AIDS affordable to millions of South Africans who face an early death from AIDS related causes. But the judge allowed a late application by an AIDS activist group to participate in the trial. The pharmaceutical manufacturers had tried in thousands of pages of legal argument to confine the court battle to one of technical legal wording, much of this around the clause that would have allowed for parallel importing of drugs. They want to stop the government adopting various measures to lower the price of drugs in the country. The multinational pharmaceutical companies are fighting the South African government's Medicines Control Act, passed in 1997. ![]() The industry's image has suffered irreparable damage from the case and has been portrayed as putting profits before lives in the country. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and 39 of its members have lost one crucial battle inside Pretoria's High Court and a larger one outside. ![]()
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