Joburg woman drops case against US drug giant after cystic fibrosis medicine price cut
Cystic fibrosis patient Cheri Nel dropped her legal challenge seeking to dramatically expand access to life-changing medicines for the condition. She initially took the company to court to secure access to life-changing cystic fibrosis medicines.Cheri Nel, a Johannesburg -based investment banker, has dropped a potentially landmark court case against Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
In February 2023, when Nel launched her lawsuit against the Boston-headquartered pharmaceutical company, the only way people in South Africa could access Trikafta was by travelling to Argentina to buy it from an Argentinian company, which sells a generic version of the medicine. According to Nel, Vertex argued in the company's answering documents to her legal filing that, as she was the only named applicant in the case, a compulsory licence for importation could only be considered for her.
The exact nature of the conversations and/or agreements between Vertex and medical schemes in South Africa, however, remains somewhat unclear. "Over 100 South Africans with CF have been prescribed our triple combination treatment in just the first two months of the medicine being available," said Munsel.
"The fact that Trikafta will now be available in South Africa at a much lower price, compared to generic versions globally, certainly undercuts the legal case for a compulsory licence," said Tendai Mafuma of SECTION27, a public interest law centre.
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