Adcock Ingram moves to defend Myprodol

Adcock Ingram Pharmaceuticals of South Africa has obtained an urgenttemporary interdict in the Pretoria Supreme Court restraining three of its local competitors from manufacturing, marketing and distributing an allegedly cheaper generic product that would infringe the patent for its highly successful anti-inflammatory pain drug Myprodol (ibuprofen/codeine/paracetamol).

Justice Brian Southwood granted an interim restraining order against generic supplier Krok Brothers Holdings from Kempton Park, the Pretoria-based Columbia Pharmaceuticals and Aspen Health Care from KwaZulu-Natal. They are now temporarily prohibited from making or distributing a similar anti-inflammatory compound, called Ibuflex, pending the determination of an infringement application to be launched by Adcock against the three companies.

According to documents presented to the court, Myprodol is the second most prescribed pharmaceutical in the country. Manufacturing started in 1987 and figures last year indicated that approximately 146,000 capsules were sold daily.