It is a month after the annual national Breast Cancer Awareness month and the Cancer Alliance NPC has been granted leave by the Competition Tribunal to intervene in the case between the Competition Commission and Roche Holdings AG and its subsidiaries F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG and Roche Products (Pty) Ltd. 

This comes after the Competition Commission alleging that the Switzerland multinational healthcare company, Roche is contravening section 8(a) and 8(1)(a) of the Competition Act 89 of 1998 by allegedly overpricing the trastuzumab medicine which treats HER2 breast cancer. 

The sections prohibit abuse of dominance of charging excessive prices to the "detriment of consumers or customers." 

According to Cancer Alliance, trastuzumab medicine "was added to the SA Essential Medicines List in 2017" as a result of its advocacy and it has since been made available in South Africa. Cancer Alliance further provides that it is not affordable to many women.  

The Competition Commission alleges that the unaffordability of the drug "constitute a violation of basic human rights, including access to healthcare, denying women with breast cancer access to life-saving medicine."

Among other issues, Cancer Alliance is granted to intervene in participating in written and oral legal submissions on the issue of the "harm suffered by both public and private sector patients with breast cancer as a result of the alleged excessive pricing of trastuzumab."