Several eyebrows have been raised over the Cipla offer to supply anti- aids drugs at one-third the current price to developing countries like South Africa. On March 7, 2001 Cipla Ltd of Mumbai, formally requested the South African department of trade and industry to issue compulsory licenses to patents on hiv drugs such as nevirapine, lamivudine, zidovudine, stavudine, didanosine, efavirenz, indinavir and abacavir.

Cipla, had previously offered to make the "Cameron cocktail' of stavudine, 3 tc and nevirapine available for us $350 a year to Medecins Sans Frontieres ( msf