Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra is about to face tougher competition, because many drug makers will soon be introducing generic alternatives to the popular erectile dysfunction pill.
The company’s patent-protected monopoly will expire Monday, leaving room for other businesses to create other versions of the $65 blue capsule.
One includes Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., which will begin offering a pill Dec. 11. The price has not been disclosed. However, the AP reported that several more companies are set to release generics next summer, which could lower the price by up to 90 percent.
But Pfizer is staying in the fight. “We believe that the story for Viagra isn’t done,” Jim Sage, president of U.S. brands for Pfizer Essential Health, told the AP.
That’s why the corporation is launching a generic pill this month, too, in an attempt to reduce potential losses when other brands become available. It will be half the price of the original.
The company also announced a subscription service for Viagra, available in January, which will include discounts and an online home delivery program for both insured and uninsured men.
Since it launched in 1998, 62 million men across the globe have used Viagra, transforming the way people think about the once-private medical condition. It also introduced another option for men aside from penile injections and implants.
Credit: Christopher Furlong
Credit: Christopher Furlong
Sage said Pfizer is now looking forward to a “new chapter.” Want to learn more about the transition? Read more at AP.
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