Inbrief

A pharmaceuticals multinational is to give a South African company the rights to manufacture an HIV drug royalty-free. GlaxoSmithKline’s  ‘donation’ of the drug abacavir to Aspen Pharma follows the company’s decision to ‘pool’ a number of its patents for drugs that address diseases. GSK recently acquired a 16 per cent share in Aspen Pharma, which has a market capitalization value of £1.4billion ($2.3bn).