Viagra imitations may flood market: Legal copies could be sold for as little as 85p
Patent protection on ‘little blue pill’ will expire in Britain this month
Rival versions could be sold for less than a tenth of cost of Viagra
By Emine Sinmaz for the Daily Mail
Published: 01:52 BST, 비닉스구매 3 June 2013 | Updated: 01:52 BST, 3 June 2013
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The NHS spent £40.3million on prescriptions for the ‘little blue pill’ in 2012 alone
Viagra will lose its patent protection in Britain this month, meaning rivals could start selling imitations of the blue pill for as little as 85p.
Generic copies of the erectile dysfunction drug could legally be manufactured for the first time since Pfizer launched Viagra in Britain in 1999.
Rivals could produce copies under the drug’s chemical name, sildenafil, which could cut the price of a pill from £10 to 85p and save the NHS millions of pounds.
In 2012 alone, the NHS spent £40.3million on the medicine, with doctors writing nearly two million prescriptions a year.
Pfizer said it would launch its own cheaper brand, named Sildenafil Pfizer, to avoid being outdone by competitors. The company said men would still need a prescription to buy the blue, diamond-shaped pill on viagra.com but would not need to see a pharmacist to get it.
Pfizer is trying to stop online pharmacies from selling imitation versions of their product up to 95 per cent cheaper and without customers requiring proof they’ve been prescribed it.
A 2011 study, in which Pfizer bought ‘Viagra’ from 22 internet pharmacies and tested them, found that 77 per cent were counterfeit.
But Jonathan Emms, the company’s UK managing director, said Viagra would continue to sell because most people asked for the medicine by name.
Mr Emms told the Times: ‘The brand is very well established and well known among patients.’
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But the British Generic Manufacturers Association said competition would be fierce, adding: ‘This is potentially a substantial market and we would expect many companies to launch generic versions when the patent expires.’
As many as 20 manufacturers are planning to unveil generic versions of the drug when the US group’s patent expires on June 21.
In 2012 alone the NHS spent £40.3million on Viagra
US drug company Pfizer’s patent will expire in the UK this month and rival versions are expected to flood the market
Under NHS guidelines, men who are prescribed the medicine are usually limited to one tablet a week because of its cost.
A fifth of all prescriptions are now private because of those restrictions.
The drug’s popularity has meant that black market sales have thrived.
But Wallace Dinsmore, a specialist in sexual health at the Royal Victoria Hospital, said a cheaper version of the drug might stop illicit internet sales.
He said: ‘It should completely torpedo the black market. If you can buy it for a pound or two a pill, why would you go to some dodgy internet site?’
Pfizer, which is based in New York, reported revenue of $2.05billion from Viagra in 2012 and $1.98billion in 2011.
