The South African government has now resumed its plans to introducelegislation which would allow the Health Ministry to purchase drug treatments on the international market as cheaply as possible, for conditions including HIV/AIDS.
Passage of the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act was halted temporarily by the court case brought against the government in Pretoria by the multinational pharmaceutical industry, aiming to get the legislation struck down on the grounds that it would violate brand-name manufacturers' intellectual property rights, a move which the industry then abandoned (Marketletter April 23).
The resumed draft legislation runs to 70 pages. It seeks to permit imports of patented drugs into South Africa, on issuance of a permit from the Health Ministry. The imported drugs would then have to be registered with the Medicines Control Council and the holder of their patents in South Africa would be unable to block the drugs' import or distribution. The legislation also gives the Health Ministry powers over drug prices in South Africa and would encourage generic prescribing and dispensing.
This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.
Login to your accountTry before you buy
7 day trial access
Become a subscriber
Or £77 per month
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed
Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK
Sign up to receive email updates
Join industry leaders for a daily roundup of biotech & pharma news
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2024 | Headless Content Management with Blaze