IN A David versus Goliath battle, the small rural community of Alice have won the first leg of their court case against German homeopathic giant Schwabe Pharmaceuticals.

The Eastern Cape community accused Schwabe of “stealing indigenous knowledge” in a case which stretches back to 2007.

The pharmaceutical company attempted to patent a remedy made from the roots of indigenous African plants pelargonium sidoides and pelargonium reniforme, more commonly known as geranium, to make cough syrup and reap the rewards.

But last week a German court ruled that the company should cease using the plant.

Umckaloabo, marketed as a unique African natural remedy, is the 20th most sought-after medicine in Germany.

But determined community member Nomthunzi Sizani – supported by the African Centre for Biosafety and the Swiss biopiracy watchdog, the Berne Declaration – stopped them in their tracks.

“What Schwabe was doing is not right,” Sizani told the Daily Dispatch on her return from Munich in Germany, where the court case was held.

“This is an indigenous plant and it is our gold.”

Sizani said there were “seven steps to winning this battle, but we are already a leap ahead”.

She said the extraction method had been used for generations by traditional healers.

“You cut a piece of the plant’s root and soak it in water overnight,” she explained.

“You then crush it and mix it with water and drink a glass full twice daily until your cough has vanished.”

Mariam Mayet, founder and director of the African Centre for Biosafety, said while she was delighted at their win, “it is really only the beginning of our long struggle – this is only one of four patents challenged by us which Schwabe has bagged in regard to the pelargonium”.

“But this is a significant victory for us and a tremendous boost.”

She said her company decided to take on the case because of a strong sense of social and environmental justice.

“We had to raise funds for travelling abroad, accommodation and, of course, legal representation. Our friends in Switzerland, the Berne Declaration, helped us a great deal with the legal costs and some travel expenses and other donors also contributed towards the expenses.”

Mayet said on the first day of the hearing, by late afternoon, she and Sizani “were worn down by the sheer weight of the pressure and stress”.

She said they both had their doubts because “really one is relying on the same body to revoke a patent it had previously granted”.

“The European Patent System is such that a member of the original team that granted the patent in the first place presides also at the opposition hearing.”

François Meienberg, a representative from the Berne Declaration, said biopiracy was rife in northern countries.

He said his company aimed to stop illegal behaviour of northern companies and stop biopirated products being patented and commercialised.

According to Mayet, Schwabe first became aware of the remedy used by the people of Alice when it was taken from South Africa in the late 1800s by a man known as “Stevens”.

She said it was later popularised by a Swiss doctor who verified both the traditional knowledge and the fact that the active ingredients in the roots work.

The case is set to continue in September. - By KATHRYN PARKES — kathrynp@dispatch.co.za