At last Viagra, the magic pill from Pfizer to treat erectile dysfunctions (ED), has reached the Indian market after seven years of introduction, but with a price tag of Rs 463 per 50 mg tablet and Rs 594 for 100 mg tablet - marginally higher than the prices of dozen odd generic Indian versions available in the market. Pfizer India reasoned, “Patients and doctors in India have been seeking introduction of Viagra for sometime. They want the certainty of accessing the genuine Viagra and the peace of mind that comes with buying the original product.”
Company officials said Viagra would be imported from France with packs having a special hologram to ensure its authenticity. Viagra will be available in 50 mg and 100 mg pills at chemist outlets in 100 cities across India. Pfizer will promote the drug to urologists, endocrinologists, venerologists and psychiatrists. The company plans to target 10 to 15 per cent of the Rs 75 to Rs 100-crore ED market in India, in the initial year. At present, Viagra is available in India in the grey market, valued to the tune of about 10 per cent of the total ED market in India.
Dr.Peter Ellis, Executive director Pfizer UK and the joint patent holder and part of the team that discovered the molecule, was present at the function and said a few recent reports associated with Viagra causing blindness among users was baseless. More than 450 clinical trials have been conducted on Viagra and coloured vision was discovered only among 3 per cent of the users and the drug never decreases blood flow to the eyes to cause blindness. More than 27 million men have been treated by the drug, 157 million prescriptions already given, 1.87 billion tablets sold, and about 7,18,000 physicians prescribe the drug across 123 countries. PDE5 inhibitors are currently being explored for various indications like blood pressure, angina, fertility, stroke, CVD diseases, memory disorders etc. and have exciting results so far, claims Ellis.
According to Dr.Sudhakar Krishnamoorthy an expert on ED, the disease was prevalent among 152 million men in 1995 worldwide and is expected to reach 322 million by 2025. ED drug market is valued $ 3 billion now and is poised to double by 2010. In India, about 15 brands are available to tap an estimated market of Rs 338.4 million. It is estimated that India have 90 millions ED infected males and more than 50 percent of the males above 40 years of age suffer from the disease.
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