Drugs companies drop Aids drugs patent fight

A number of drugs companies have dropped their court case to block cheap Aids drug imports to South Africa.

The country's government will now be able to buy copied versions of Aids treatments rather than pay top prices for the official product.

The drug companies had argued their patents should be protected because they had invested so much in research and development.

The lawsuit had been seen by international human rights groups and Aids activists as a landmark battle in the effort to secure medication for the 26 million people in Africa infected with HIV.

"By the consent of all parties, we would simply ask your lordship to note that the application is withdrawn," said Stephanus Cilliers, the lawyer for the pharmaceutical companies.

After the judge in Pretoria accepted the motion, activists packed into the courtroom erupted into cheers and singing.

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said the government had not agreed to any deals in exchange for dropping the suit.

More than three dozen pharmaceutical companies brought the action, arguing that a 1997 South African law regulating medicine was too broad, and unfairly targeted drug manufacturers.

The government, Aids activists and human rights groups said the drug companies are trying to wring profits out of a public health nightmare that threatens to devastate South Africa and dozens of other impoverished countries.

More than 25 million of the 36 million people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, one of the world's most impoverished regions. In 2000, 2.4 million people in the region died from the effects of Aids.