Aurobindo Pharma sues SA govt over AIDS drug bids

Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma has sued the South African government after failing to win a $400-million tender for medicines to treat AIDS. The company claims its quoted price was 30 per cent cheaper than the locally manufactured products. Six Indian companies including Aurobindo,Cipla and Ranbaxy had participated in the tender but none could win the contract for around six products to treat HIV/AIDS. Aurobindo is one of the largest producers of generic anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS and their active pharmaceutical ingredients.

According to a news report from South Africa,60 per cent of the contract,floated last year,was awarded to local companies Aspen and Adcock Ingram. The balance was awarded to the patent holding companies. The formulations offered by the Indian companies were generic the patents on them had expired. Since the matter is now in a court,Aurobindo officials refused to comment. The companys shares were down 1.74 per cent to close at Rs 492.25 on the BSE on Monday.

The South African government had cancelled a tender for Efavirenz earlier,in which Aurobindo had a clear edge over branded makers,without giving any explanation. Sources said the price quoted by Aurobindo for Efavirenz was 120 per cent less than the local product available in the South African market. While there was no independent corroboration for the estimate,sources said it could have meant a savings of 178 million rand over the two-year contract period for the government.

About 12 companies,including Roche,Bristol Meyers Squibb and Abbott Laboratories and Indian companies such as Cipla,Ranbaxy,Matrix,Aurobindo and Hetero Drugs were in the race for the global contract. However,officials from Hetero Drugs said that they withdrew from the tender.

When contacted,Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) officials said the South African government had delayed the tendering process due to bureaucratic problems.