Chairperson, I'm sorry, there was a slight misunderstanding here.
The question by hon Jacobs refers to what is referred to as a patent cliff. The response is as follows: The term patent cliff is a term usually used by multi-national pharmaceutical industry to describe the declines in the high margins that they end by a product when it loses patent protection and consequently its market exclusivity with the entry of market of lower priced generics.
Of course, this becomes good news for the developing nations like South Africa where the implication is that we now have more affordable medicines, in the form of generic medicines, which would create access to all South Africans.
The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority, SAHPRA, allows for the registration of a generic product even while a patent is active for such a medicine. This is consistent with the Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Trips, agreement. It's an opportunity for local manufacturers to submit dossiers of the generic medicine even before the patent expires. This approach allows manufacturers to have their dossier registered before that patent. At the point of patent expiry,
then the generic manufacturer can then launch their products avoiding unnecessary delays in the launch of the product.
The media reports have recently reported that there are over
150 blockbuster medicines that will face a patent cliff over the next 10 years. This provides opportunities for several medicines that have a significant benefit to be accessed at a much more affordable price. This is also very good news for National Health Insurance, NHI, because here we are looking at good quality medicines at a lower cost.
At a recent conference this matter of patent cliff was discussed where opportunities for local manufacturing to benefit from the patent cliff were also identified.
We have also been able to roll out innovative antiretroviral even before the patent expiry through voluntary licensing agreements that have allowed local manufacturers' early market entry. This has allowed South Africa to roll out the largest antiretroviral programme in the world.
These voluntary licensing agreements have been facilitated by the medicine's patent pool or bilateral patent agreement with local manufacturers. I thank you.