Writing for Ground Up (Capetown), Marcus Low is reporting that a life-saving drug to combat drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is being blocked by outdated patent laws. Pfizer produces Linezolid, a drug that combats drug resistant TB, which costs R676 ($69.10 US) per pill per day. The pill must be taken every day for two years, which makes it cost prohibitive for most patients.
Due to this cost and Pfizer’s unwillingness to decrease the cost of the pill, doctors want to treat patients with a generic brand of the drug produced in India, which costs R25 per pill ($2.56 US). The problem is that due to outdated patent laws, doctors cannot legally import the generic form of the drug into the country.
In September, South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) released the much-anticipated draft National Policy on Intellectual Property (IP) for public comment, which will be the first time that intellectual property laws have been revised in decades.
Low writes:
It [the policy] provides an opportunity to recalibrate the existing framework to better serve the public interest. Section 27 of the Constitution places an obligation on the state to take reasonable legislative measures to ensure the progressive realization of the right to access healthcare, and to consider the impact policy will have on people’s daily lives. This process cannot be allowed to be hijacked by narrow economic interests.
The draft policy explicitly acknowledges that access to healthcare must be considered when developing patent law. The drafters understand that access to generic medicines, like the Indian generic of linezolid, is in the public interest. This is a major step in the right direction – for which the DTI must be commended.
Read more about this issue at AllAfrica.com.
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