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AIDS drug licence granted

    JOHANNESBURG

    South African drug company Thembalami Pharmaceuticals has been granted a licence to produce and sell a generic version of the anti-AIDS drug Efavirenz, made by pharmaceutical giant Merck and Company and sold under the brand name Stocrin.

    The licence was issued to help speed up access to antiretroviral drugs in South Africa and other countries affected by HIV/AIDS.

    "By granting us a royalty-free licence, Merck and Company has once again demonstrated their ongoing commitment to broadening access to antiretroviral medicines in South Africa," Sotse Segoneco, CEO of Thembalami, said in a statement.

    An estimated 20,000 HIV-positive South Africans use Stocrin, and this number is expected to grow to 50,000 by the end of 2004 under the government's national drug plan.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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