Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association - February 23, 2007
"Adcock Ingram is now able to tender for government's ARV requirements and meet the needs of the private healthcare market," said the company's managing director, Jonathan Louw.
The Medicines Control Council approved the company's request just a few months after the World Health Organisation's approval of its research and development site, which made the site one of few such accredited sites globally.
"We started the process of acquiring voluntary licences for the ARVs in 2005 and over the next 23 months completed the development and registration thereof.
"The generic ARVs have all been developed in-house by a team of senior researchers," said Louw.
The pharmaceutical company said the ARVs would not be cheaper despite being manufactured in South Africa, but "they are well within the pricing of ARVs manufactured in other countries".
The drugs will be manufactured at the company's Wadeville factory and distributed within South Africa and neighbouring African countries.
Research suggested that between 1 500 and 1 700 new infections occurred every day in South Africa and that more than 5,5-million South Africans are HIV-positive, said Louw.
"As a pharmaceutical company with the intellectual and manufacturing resources available, we are duty bound to ensure that we supply this much-needed medication".
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