Pharmaceutical
Global study reveals relatively low cost of SA medicines
November 20th, 2019 In a finding that may surprise many, South Africa ranked among the lowest on the cost of 13 common medicines in a 50-nation study by UK digital healthcare provider Medbelle, writes MedicalBrief. SA came in at 45 with...
Unaffordable breast cancer medicines are killing SA women
October 30th, 2019 Breast cancer remains the leading cancer affecting South Africa women. It is not only under-diagnosed but many will die needlessly because the most effective drugs are too expensive, writes Salomé Meyer, activist and Cancer Alliance Access...
Health Compact 'waters down' access to affordable medicine
August 14th, 2019 In May 2018, the Trade and Industry Department finally unveiled a new policy that would help to rein in pharmaceutical industry profiteering, but the industry has fought back. Mark Heywood, the editor of the soon-to-be-launched Maverick Citizen...
Use of generics rises to a new high in SA's private sector
August 7th, 2019 The use of cheaper generic alternatives rose to an all-time high of 62% in the private sector in 2018, while the top five chronic disease list (CDL) conditions — hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, HIV/AIDS, hyperlipidaemia and asthma — were...
The high cost rare diseases: R54m for one-off injection
December 5th, 2018 The Sunday Times reports on one SA family's journey with their daughter, who has spinal muscular atrophy, trying to access hugely expensive new breakthrough drugs from Biogen and Novartis, for their daughter, who has spinal muscular atrophy...
SA pharmacies 'knowingly stock dangerous and ineffective products'
November 7th, 2018 The US Food and Drug Administration's Tainted Products Marketed as Dietary Supplements database lists hundreds of products with hidden active ingredients that are unsafe or unstudied. Some are sold in South African pharmacies, even under the same...Running out of antibiotics under development — WHO report
A World Health Organisation (WHO) report shows a serious lack of antibiotics under development to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Most of the drugs currently in the clinical pipeline are modifications of existing classes of...Health activists embrace IP policy draft, IPSA says it fuels misconceptions
Health activists have welcomed the SA Department of Trade and Industry’s latest draft intellectual property policy saying it contains important reforms that will make life-saving medicines cheaper and more widely available. However, The...SA's national cancer drug shortage may last until October
A deadly national cancer drug shortage in SA is approaching its third month and patients may have to go without until October – if they can make it – reports Bhekisisa. In February, Nic Basson was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a...
The unaffordable cost of medicines in SA controversy
June 28th, 2017 The cost of medicines in SA – particularly of cutting-edge, potentially life-saving medicines – has been in the news. In one of several articles featured in this FOCUS, Katharine Child of Financial Mail reports that SA needs a scientific...
Drug companies in the Competition Commission's sights
June 21st, 2017 JSE-listed pharmaceutical company Aspen will have to pay a $5.2m fine plus interest imposed by the Italian Competition Authority related to the company’s portfolio of oncology products distributed in Italy, writes Business Report. Aspen...SA Competition Commission investigates Aspen, Roche and Pfizer over cancer drug pricing
Africa’s biggest generic drug maker Aspen Pharmacare, already under investigation by European authorities over the price of its cancer drugs, is now under similar scrutiny from South Africa’s Competition Commission, reports Business Day. The...SA experiencing an influx of fake medication
Erectile dysfunction drugs‚ painkillers and weight loss pills are among the most counterfeited pharmaceuticals available in South Africa. The Times reports that, according to Mohamed Khader‚ of specialist intellectual property firm Spoor...Amgen's cholesterol drug cuts cardiovascular risk - trial
Amgen said its cholesterol fighter Repatha significantly reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes and death in patients with heart disease, according to initial results of a large, trial, reports Reuters Health. The data should pave the way...Increases in drug prices puts pressure on European healthcare
Increases in cancer medicine prices in the UK, despite many medicines going off-patent, suggest that in many cases NHS price negotiations are failing to lower or even stabilise drug prices, found a UK study. European prices for some off-patent...