South Africa Probes Price Of COVID-19 Treatment Remdesivir

The Competition Commission of South Africa, is investigating the price of US pharmaceutical manufacturer Gilead Science’s coronavirus treatment remdesivir and prices charged by generic firms to which it granted manufacturing license after a complaint by activists and researchers.

Commission spokesperson Makunga Siyabulela said on Monday, August 31, that the organization received a request from non-profit organisation the Health Justice Initiative (HJI) and Wits research unit Ezintsha to examine the price of remdesivir. “It is … currently under investigation and remedies are likely to be behavioural and/or an administrative penalty, if there is a finding of a contravention,” he said.