Thailand Grants Final Approval For Import Of Viagra
August 18, 1998 11:28 AM
BANGKOK (AP)--Thailand's Food and Drug
Administration has given final approval for the import of
the new impotence drug Viagra, agency officials said
Tuesday.
Pfizer (PFE), the maker of Viagra, applied for FDA
approval in February. Since then, a black market has
developed for the drug, with a single pill selling for about
$30.
Thai media also reported last week that local
counterfeiters are producing fake Viagra pills composed
primarily of flour, and selling them for the same price as
the real ones. Authorities have seized more than 150
fake tablets.
The go-ahead to import Viagra should help diminish the
black market, FDA officials said.
Under FDA rules, Viagra won't be available in drug
stores, but will be sold only in hospital pharmacies with a
prescription from either a urologist, cardiologist,
endocrinologist or psychiatrist.
The pill will be priced at $10 each, the same as in the
U.S.
Mongkol na Songkhla, secretary general of the FDA,
estimated in June that there are about 100,000 Thais
who qualify for prescriptions.
He said the FDA will continue to monitor the drug after
its approval because of questions about its safety.
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