A South African community is to challenge German homeopathic giant Schwabe Pharmaceuticals in court in Munich next week over a traditional medicine the company is seeking to patent.

The case could set a precedent in cases in which multinationals use the plants and indigenous knowledge of developing countries, where laws may not protect communities’ intellectual property rights.

Schwabe wants to patent a method for producing extracts from the roots of Pelargonium sidoides and Pelargonium reniforme to make cough and cold syrups. The company has also hit problems in India over alleged bioprospecting.

The community, in Alice in the Eastern Cape, said the extraction method has been used for generations by traditional healers and Schwabe has no right to patent it.

Community member Nomthunzi Sizani said she grew up with the plant and it was trusted in her community as a flu and cough remedy.

“The community wants to stop [companies] from saying they were the first to know that this medicine is important, because we grew up knowing that. They are like thieves, stealing the indigenous knowledge,” she said.

The plant is endemic to Southern Africa, especially the Eastern Cape and Lesotho. The Zulu, Basotho, Xhosa and Mfengu peoples have used it for centuries to treat respiratory complaints, and the compound it contains, cumerin, is now a key ingredient in remedies.

The Alice community is supported by the Africa Centre for Biosafety and the Swiss biopiracy watchdog, the Berne Declaration.

Read more here.

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