Friday, 29 March, 2024
HomeHealth PolicyOffice to examine drug patent applications being considered

Office to examine drug patent applications being considered

The [b]Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi[/b], is mulling the possibility of establishing an office dedicated to examining drug patent applications in SA, reports [s]Business Report[/s]. Speaking about the [b]Department of Trade and Industry’s[/b] draft intellectual property policy which contains draft drugs patent reforms, Motsoaledi said 30% of drug patents that had been rejected in the US and Europe because of evergreening practices, were approved in SA. Evergreening is a term that refers to the renewal of a patent for another 20 years simply by tweaking one molecule in the protected drug so that no other firm can produce a generic version. The patent examination office ‘is something that we know we need to do, not that there are concrete plans or any documents drafted to establish it’, the minister’s spokesperson, [b]Joe Maila[/b] is quoted in the report as saying.

[link url=http://www.iol.co.za/business/news/drug-examining-office-mooted-1.1661094#.UyMBCD-SzE0]Full report in Business Report[/link]

MedicalBrief — our free weekly e-newsletter

We'd appreciate as much information as possible, however only an email address is required.