Pretoria - The world's richest drug companies were poised yesterday to finally withdraw from a landmark South African court case over patented AIDS drugs after suffering a public relations disaster.
The case is to resume tomorrow amid growing expectations that 39 companies had decided their challenge of a South African law on importing cheaper generic AIDS drugs had backfired in the face of growing protests.
British charity group Oxfam said most of the firms seeking to defend their patent rights had already decided to reach a settlement with the South African government and drop the case. Oxfam and other groups have criticised the industry for putting profits ahead of lives at a time when HIV-AIDS is afflicting more than 25 million Africans, a tiny fraction of whom can afford drugs.