Pfizer expresses concern over local industry's interest in Viagra molecule
Tuesday, May 19, 1998
Our Infrastructure Bureau
Mumbai, May 18: The United States multinational
Pfizer, the patent holder for block-bluster
anti-impotency drug, Viagra, on Monday expressed
concern over Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceutical's
plans to manufacture sildenafil citrate in the country.
Sildenafil Citrate is the bulk active of Viagra.
While Orchid has sought the permission of the Drug
Controller of India to make sildenafil citrate, Pfizer's
official spokesperson said his company may even
explore the option of holding discussions with the
government on the possible fall-out of approving such a
move.
Pfizer maintained that the particular physical molecule is
not difficult to synthesise, and added that it possessed
the sum of cumulative experiences with Viagra. Viagra
was approved by the US Food and Drug
Administration in March this year for the treatment of
male-erectile dysfunction.
Pfizer has also questioned the logic of simply granting
approvals, which are probably not backed by detailed
clinical trials, though the Chennai-based
Orchid'sreaction to the multinational's contention could
not be obtained.A Reuters report, however, quotes an
Orchid spokesperson as saying that "the company has
synthesised sildenafil citrate by a different process".
Orchid, which plans to export its entire output, has
apparently received enquiries for the product from
many of its overseas customers. It has received export
orders for 39 tonnes of the product from Madex
Pharmaceuticals, Impex Quimica SA, Cranley Trading
Services and Hukong & Company.
Meanwhile, the Orchid scrip on Monday moved up 10
per cent on both the Bombay and National stock
exchanges. The scrip was locked at Rs 99.15 and Rs
101.70 on the BSE and the NSE respectively.
Marketmen attributed the upward movement of the
scrip to the prospects of the company exporting
sildenafil citrate to markets where the Viagra patent
would not be infringed upon.
Orchid, a 100 per cent export-oriented unit, is already
renowned for its strength in the area of cephalosporins,
the largest revenue segment of theanti-mocrobials
market.
Established in 1992, Orchid is the country's largest
manufacturer of oral and sterile cephalosporins. It
ranks among the top five in the world for key
intermediate 7ADCA and oral cephalosporins based
on it. The company's paid- up equity capital was Rs
17.34 crore for the year ended March 31, 1998, while
the book value per share was Rs 81.85. Earnings per
share stood at Rs 19.65.Significantly, experts say that
sildenafil-citrate debate is likely to intensify in the
months to come, with industry abuzz that more
domestic pharma companies planning to jump in on the
bandwagon. This, they say, is essentially owing to the
immense revenue potential of Viagra, which is sold for
$10 a tablet in the American market.
Copyright c 1998 Indian Express Newspapers
(Bombay) Ltd.
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