Pfizer Argentina Expects Competition in Impotency Drug Market
Bloomberg News
June 1, 1998, 9:52 a.m. PT
Pfizer Argentina Expects Competition in Impotency Drug Market
Buenos Aires, June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc.'s Argentine
unit said local drugmakers, which aren't required by law to
respect international pharmaceutical patents, will compete with
its hot-selling impotency drug Viagra and cut into sales.
At least four companies plan to market versions of
Sildenafil, Viagra's chemical name, once the drug is approved by
Argentina's government within several months, said
Dr. Enrique Comesana, a Pfizer physician who is heading the
product's launch in Argentina.
''It's not illegal for any company to market Sildenafil,''
Comesana said in an interview. ''Our phones are ringing
constantly for information on this drug, so you can imagine the
interest in marketing it.''
New York-based Pfizer, which is seeking approval to sell
Viagra in countries around the globe, is hoping that sales will
take off in other countries as quickly as they did in the U.S.
Since its introduction in April, U.S. doctors have already filled
more than 1 million prescriptions.
However, the company will face stiff competition in
countries such as Argentina, India and Turkey, where local laws
permit the copying of drugs.
In Argentina Pfizer has plenty to lose. An estimated
2 million Argentine men are impotent, according to Pfizer, or
about 11 percent of the male population, making them potential
sales targets. Newspaper El Cronista reported that sales of
Viagra or copies are expected to reach as high as $600 million
annually.
Pfizer expects to sign an agreement with Argentine
pharmaceutical company Laboratorios Bago SA to produce and market
the drug locally. Viagra is expected to be approved by
Argentina's food and drug authority within several months, said
Comesana.
Argentina approved a new pharmaceutical patent law in 1995
though it doesn't take effect until 2000.
Pfizer also plans to launch Viagra in Brazil, Mexico and
other Latin American markets.
--Jake Keaveny through the Buenos Aires newsroom (541)321-5531 |
