The supply of ARVs to South Africans will not be affected by the recent High Court judgment whereby parts of the R15.5bn tender allocations were overturned and the Department of Health given 120 days to reallocate the awards, reports IOL.
Cipla Medpro Manufacturing and Hetero Drugs had disputed the tender, and on 20 October, the court dismissed Hetero’s application, but granted an order in favour of Cipla.
Hetero had asked the court to review and set aside the DoH's decision to exclude it from the Item 13 and Item 23 awards.
Cipla was granted three awards worth R214m while Hetero received five awards worth R678m. However, Cipla contested the awarding of Item 13 and Item 23, which related to the one-month and three-month packs of three HIV treatment medications, namely dolutegravir, lamivudine and tenofovir.
Cipla argued that Item 13 and Item 23 should not have been split into two different awards as they involved the same medications, just different quantities.
Acting Judge Graham Girdwood agreed and found that the awards for both items were unconstitutional and therefore invalid.
The court noted that Cipla had been a longstanding ARV manufacturer, with a demonstrated ability to supply more than half of the estimated demand for Item 13 and nearly half of the estimated demand for Item 23. Cipla also manufactures these medications at its own facility in KwaZulu-Natal.
Two companies, Innovata and Viatris, were also disqualified by Girdwood from reconsideration for any awards related to Item 13 and Item 23 because they had applied for the tenders with expired licences. He noted that neither should have been considered beyond the first stage.
Last week, the department said it would continue to ensure procurement processes are fair, transparent, and legally compliant; that procurement delivers value for money, strengthens public confidence, and safeguards the sustained availability of quality-assured ARV medication for patients relying on the public health system.
It said judgment would not threaten ARV distribution and that patients would continue to have access to their medication.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Cipla and Health Department in legal showdown over ARV tender
HIV drugs roll-out under threat in court tender row