Cape Town

Good news: AIDS activists celebrate in court as the drug companies drop their lawsuit. Credit: AP

Drug companies expect the South African government to hold off from importing cheap generic copies of their AIDS drugs following the withdrawal of their lawsuit against the government last week.

Although the 39 drug-makers withdrew their lawsuit unconditionally, officials of South Africa's Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association say the government has privately undertaken to import only branded versions of drugs already under patent in South Africa.

The government's only public promise is to consult the drug companies when drawing up regulations relating to the section of the 1997 Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act to which the companies objected in their lawsuit.

The government had previously said it would use either parallel imports or compulsory licensing — allowing domestic production of a patented drug — to obtain drugs at lower prices than offered by patent holders. It has not committed itself to withdrawing that intention.

Earlier last week, South Africa's Medicines Control Council announced that it had registered the anti-AIDS drug nevirapine for use in preventing the mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The drug's manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim, has agreed that any possible resistance problems can be monitored. The decision opens the way — in theory — for the drug to become available on prescription.

But AIDS activists' euphoria over the lawsuit might be short-lived. At a press conference following the decision, health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said hopes should not be raised that anti-AIDS drugs would become available. She said their widespread use would be hampered by a lack of adequate infrastructure, high costs and drug resistance.