Big pharma in the dock over patent law plot in South Africa

Attempts to reform South Africa's patents laws have been marred with controversy over an alleged campaign by big pharma to derail the process. Adele Baleta reports from Cape Town.A heated row between the South African Government and the country's umbrella organisation for drug companies over a proposed publicity campaign to fight draft patent reforms has gained momentum with Danish company Novo Nordisk quitting the group in protest.The company is one of 26 research-based pharmaceutical companies who are members of the Innovative Pharmaceutical Association of South Africa (IPASA), which recently sent an email to members seeking support for a US$541 000 campaign aimed at challenging efforts to overturn current intellectual property (IP) legislation.Among other issues, South Africa's draft IP law seeks to address patent ever-greening, a contentious strategy in which drug firms tweak formulations to extend the 20-year life of a patent.Novo Nordisk resigned from IPASA with company spokeswoman Shelley Harris writing in an email that the decision to leave followed “a disagreement on a public relations campaign proposed by IPASA, which we felt did not serve our or the industry's interests”.Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Médecins Sans Frontières have slammed the “covert” campaign and they will continue with their Fix The Patent Laws initiative, which is rallying to amend South Africa's Patents Act 57 of 1978 to reduce the cost ...
Source: PharmaGossip - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs