Just before other generic versions could hit the market, Pfizer came out with his own generic version of Viagra. This will help Pfizer Inc. avoiding the large amount of sales drop after markets will be flooded with numerous generic and cheaper versions of the impotence pill.
Cheaper versions of Viagra will soon hit the markets
HIGHLIGHTS
- Pfizer Inc. will begin selling Viagra at half of its current price
- Teva Pharmaceuticals will be launching the generic version of Viagra
- Sildenafil (generic versions) will be available at affordable prices
Just before generic versions of Viagra are ready to hit the markets, drug maker Pfizer is looking forward to launching his own cheaper and generic version of Viagra in the form of white pills. In order to avoid losing a large chunk of his sales of the impotence pill, he chose to launch his version before its competition hit the markets in the coming week. Pfizer Inc. will begin selling Viagra at price which is half of its current retail price, from Monday onwards. The patent-protected monopoly of Viagra will end on Monday, 19 years after its launch in 1998.
Teva Pharmaceuticals, the company which will be launching the generic version of the blue pills, hasn't disclosed the price so far. After the launch of the generic version, there will be many more generic versions of Viagra which will be launched by next summer. This will further reduce the price of generics by upto 90%.
The launch of these generic versions of Viagra are going to be helpful for patients and will make a lot of them happy, feel experts.
Viagra was the first pill for impotence. It was the pill which was responsible for bringing a revolution to the world of private frustrations of aging men, by making erectile dysfunction a concern worth being discussed publically. The treatment was far more convenient and appealing than other treatments like penile injections and implants. In fact, it was Pfizer's TV advertisements for Vaigra that led to the coining of the term "erectile dysfunction".
Starting January, Pfizer is going to offer two new discount programs and increase its copayment card discounts. Uninsured men can get brand-name Viagra at half the price through an online home delivery program called Pfizer Direct. The insured patients can get a monthly subscription of 6-10 pills, for a less as $20.
Eric Gordon, a pharmaceuticals analyst at the University of Michigan business school says that this is a very comprehensive pricing and marketing response to generic versions of Viagra. He is also of the belief that discounted prices of Viagra will attract patients who used to buy pills and other counterparts of Viagra online.
However, there are other experts who feel that insured patients would not want to buy generics as people would be more than happy to buy a branded one at a discounted price.
In the meantime, repeated hikes in the price of Viagra led to sale reduction by upto 20% since 2012. In 2016, Viagra sales were recorded at $3 billion, according to health data and clinical research company IQVIA.
The generic version of Viagra will be called sildenafil. It will be much more affordable than the former, starting June 11.
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