Tamar Kahn, Science And Health Editor
15 December 2004
Cape Town — GlaxoSmithKline, the world's largest manufacturer of AIDS drugs, has granted a voluntary licence to Cipla Medpro to make generic copies of its patented drugs lamivudine, zidovudine and a combination of the two, it said yesterday.
Cipla Medpro, a South African subsidiary of Indian generic manufacturing company Cipla, has registered all of these antiretroviral medicines with the Medicines Control Council.
Both registration and licensing are needed by firms such as Cipla Medpro, that have been shortlisted for government's AIDS-drug tender.
The licence is the fifth granted to a South African firm, and stems from an agreement reached last year between Glaxo, drug firm Boëhringer Ingelheim, and AIDS activists who have filed a complaint with the Competition Commission over the companies' prices and policies.
The commission found the companies had stifled competition in the generics market and charged "excessive" prices.
A key aspect of the subsequent settlement agreement was that Glaxo and Boëhringer would issue more voluntary licences to generic manufacturers.
They also agreed to restrict their royalty fees to 5% and allow sales to public and private sector markets in sub-Saharan Africa.
Glaxo has already issued licences to Thembalami Pharmaceuticals, a joint venture between SA's Adcock Ingram and Indian drug giant Ranbaxy; Feza Pharmaceuticals, a joint venture between Creative Outsourcing Solutions International and African Healthcare Solutions; and Biotech Laboratories, a subsidiary of black-owned manufacturer Afrika Biopharma.
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