Generic drug

The health department has called for bids for the next AIDS-drug tender, a move keenly awaited by local pharmaceutical firms that invested heavily in developing capacity to make generic copies of patented antiretroviral medicines. SA has the worlds biggest caseload of HIV patients, with about 5,4-million people infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

The Medicines Control Council has ordered JSE-listed Enaleni Pharmaceuticals to halt production of medicines at its Durban facility because it does not meet manufacturing standards, it emerged yesterday.

The Medicines Control Council has ordered JSE-listed Enaleni Pharmaceuticals to halt production of medicines at its Durban facility because it does not meet manufacturing standards, it emerged yesterday.

CAPE TOWN The governments plans to drive down medicine prices by benchmarking them against other countries could cut multinational pharmaceutical firms local revenues by about 35%, say industry sources.

The health department has corrected a confusing notice it issued last month on the pricing of nonprescription medicines, making it clear that schedule 0 products are exempt from the two key provisions in the Medicines Act that control prices.

An independent report which has just been released has revealed that the average cost of medicines has dropped by just over 8% in South Africa since December 2004.

The countries of southern Africa have the world's highest rates of AIDS infection.

A new and cheaper generic Aids drug manufactured by one of India's largest pharmaceutical companies could be on the cards for millions of South Africans suffering from HIV/Aids.

Bowing to huge international pressure, major pharmaceutical companies have made significant efforts to make their patented antiretroviral drugs available in Africa while ensuring that they - not generic manufacturers - maintain market control in the continent.

Attempting to treat millions of HIV patients in developing countries is a noble goal that humanitarian organizations will probably eventually achieve. Currently, however, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Clinton Foundation are making costly errors concerning the number of treated patients and the price of drugs. These inaccuracies encourage the belief that more widespread treatment is possible. This in turn leads to unsustainable programs. Moreover, the organizations' imprecise numbers for treatment and drug pricing are encouraging the use of low-quality, insufficiently tested drugs to fight HIV. This will result in misery for those not sustained by treatment and exacerbate drug resistance problems for all who are HIV positive.