The Health Department has defended its R15.5bn AIDS drug tender against a legal challenge from pharmaceutical manufacturer Cipla. The department argues that officials followed a fair and rational process when awarding contracts to supply key HIV medicines.
The dispute centres on contracts that took effect on 1 December 2025. They cover the daily treatment used by most HIV patients. Cipla, which previously supplied the state and invested in local manufacturing, received no share of contracts for monthly or three-monthly packs of tenofovir, lamivudine and dolutegravir, known as TLD.