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 It is not the first time drugmakers have clashed
with Pretoria. A decade ago the industry was forced to climb down in
a bruising battle with South Africa over AIDS drugs patents and
access to generics.
The latest fight reflects tension between an industry that wants to
protect its intellectual property, even as it pushes further into
emerging markets, and governments from India to Brazil that are
determined to increase patients' access to life-saving treatments.
South Africa is in the final stages of implementing a new law that
would allow generic drugmakers to produce cut-price copies of
patented medicines and make it harder for firms to register and roll
over patents.
Global drugmakers have drawn up a $600,000 publicity campaign to
mobilize local and overseas opposition to the intellectual property
(IP) changes, according to a document written by a drugs industry
lobby group and seen by Reuters.
Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi on Friday lashed out at
drugmakers, saying their campaign was aimed at turning South
Africans against the government.
"It's a conspiracy of satanic magnitude," he said. "This document
can sentence many South Africans to death. This is a plan for
genocide."
The ruling African National Congress is looking to cut healthcare
costs as it grapples with the world's heaviest HIV/AIDS caseloads
and its biggest treatment program.
The new law is expected to reduce medicine prices and open up a
fledgling generic drug industry dominated by Aspen Pharmacare and
Adcock Ingram.
The policy would also close a loophole known as "ever-greening" that
allows a drugmaker to make minor changes to an existing drug or
discover a new use for it, and then register it as a totally new
find.
Healthcare activists say South Africa's track record of approving
drug patents — in 2008 it granted more than 2,400 patents compared
with fewer than 300 in six years in Brazil — shows the need for
reform.
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The document — prepared by U.S. consultancy Public Affairs
Engagement for industry lobby Innovative Pharmaceutical Association
South Africa (IPASA) — outlines a plan to delay the reform at least
until after South Africa's elections in early May by suggesting the
new law would be politically damaging.
REDUCE INVESTMENT
"The world cares that South Africa is proposing to take a wrong turn
in economic policy by weakening IP protections. And by cares, we
mean both expresses compassionate concern and will take action by
reducing investment," the document reads.
IPASA members include drugmakers such as Sanofi, Baxter
International, Pfizer and Novartis.
IPASA spokeswoman Val Beaumont confirmed the authenticity of the
document but said the proposals were still under consideration.
"No part of those proposals have been accepted. No part of that
document has been implemented," she told Reuters.
The industry could now ditch the campaign — which it dubbed "Almost
Political" — because the leaked document has likely weakened its
negotiating position.
Under current South African IP law, pharmaceutical companies are
able to register drugs as new without being checked for their
novelty.
(Editing by David Dolan and Erica
Billingham)
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