South African court overturns decision on ARV drug tender — Daily Maverick

The High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, has set aside part of the Department of Health’s decisions regarding a tender for the supply of antiretroviral medicines due to irregularities in the procurement process. The court ordered the department to reallocate and award contracts for one- and three-month medicine packs within 120 days, Daily Maverick reports.

The total value of the tender, which took effect in December 2025, is 15.5 billion rand. Of this amount, 12.6 billion rand is allocated for fixed-dose combinations of tenofovir, lamivudine and dolutegravir in one- and three-month packs. These medicines are the standard antiretroviral treatment regimen for adults in South Africa, where they are taken by millions of people.

Supplies will continue

Acting Judge Graham Girdwood ruled that the decisions to award the contracts were unlawful and unconstitutional. At the same time, the current suppliers must continue deliveries to prevent medicine shortages. The setting aside of the previous decisions will take effect only 90 days after the completion of the new contract allocation, so that the newly selected companies have time to prepare for supplies.

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The claims were filed by Cipla Medpro Manufacturing and Hetero Drugs South Africa. The court dismissed Hetero’s application, noting that the department had reasonable suspicions of possible collusion in the submission of tender bids with other companies. The court did not make a final determination as to whether such collusion took place.

Licences and bid evaluation

The court also ordered that the tender bids of Innovata Pharmaceuticals and Viatris Healthcare be excluded from reconsideration because, when bid submissions closed, the companies did not have a valid licence for the manufacturing site in Isando. The judge stressed that an expired licence is not valid.

In addition, the Department of Health must adjust the scores of Innovata and Barrs Pharmaceuticals. The companies were awarded points for the status of historically disadvantaged persons without verification of the ownership they claimed. The court also ordered the department to investigate possible collusion between Innovata and Barrs during their participation in the tender.