A David and Goliath struggle by a small privately held company owned by two brothers to extract payment from the giant pharmaceuticals multinational group, Novartis. Novartis opposed every step which was taken and the matter proceeded through a lengthy and prolonged trial in the South Gauteng High Court which awarded judgment in favour of Maphil. The matter then proceeded to appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal and resulted in the handing down of a significant recent judgment regarding the interpretation of contracts in South African law and which had had a notable impact on South African jurisprudence in this area. It has been reported and can be found at Novartis v Maphil 2016 (1) SA 518 (SCA).
