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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly)

PFE 24.90

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Nov 19 3:59 PM EST

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To: BDR who wrote (770)	9/11/1998 8:56:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) of 1722

The Times: Impotence drug available next week at œ4.84 a pill, writes Ian Murray Viagra will cost the NHS œ50m a year September 11 1998 VIAGRA is to be sold to the NHS at œ4.84 a tablet when it is licensed next week. Pfizer, the manufacturer, said yesterday that this would make it one of the cheapest treatments for impotence and that the total bill to the NHS was unlikely to be more than about œ50 million a year. At the same time doctors' leaders said they were alarmed and angry that the Department of Health has yet to produce guidelines for prescribing the drug. Many fear Viagra could make a serious dent in their budgets if the Government keeps its promise to make it available on the NHS for patients with a clinical need. "We have a Government that goes on at great length about the need for horizon scanning, and yet Viagra has been on the horizon now for two years," said Derek Machin, one of the 400 specialist urologists in Britain who are preparing to cope with a huge demand for the drug if, as expected, the European Commission licenses it for sale throughout the EU on Tuesday. "They have known it was coming for a long time, yet here we are within a few days of it being available and we have heard nothing. We have heard rumours that they are thinking of banning its use or only making it available after a patient has seen a specialist, but that would be dreadful. "We cannot have the message to go out to men that they are not deserving of treatment by the health service. Impotence is a subject that causes embarrassment but the Viagra discussion has made it acceptable. We can't have a situation where men summon up the courage at last to come and seek treatment and we tell them to go away because there is no money for it." Mr Machin gave warning at the British Medical Association annual meeting in July that if the estimated 2.5 million impotent men in Britain were all prescribed Viagra it could cost the NHS up to œ1 billion a year. In fact only one in ten of those men was likely to present himself for treatment. "And probably no more than 60 per cent of them would benefit from Viagra. I think that about œ100 million a year is therefore a realistic estimate of the cost. However, if the word goes out that the drug really works then many more men might come forward. The patients I have prescribed it for so far have all been delighted. I haven't had a failure yet and I think we are going to see an awful lot of people, including those who have tried other treatments like injections which they have not been able to get on with. "We just cannot know at this stage what the demand will be and we urgently need the Government to give us national guidelines. We cannot as a profession be expected to take the responsibility for rationing a drug that we know works so well." Pfizer said it was announcing the price of the drug "to shatter the prevalent myth" that it would cost œ1 billion. Only about 1 per cent of those who were impotent were likely to seek treatment and Viagra would work in at best seven out of ten cases, Andy Burroughs, a spokesman said. Patients with heart conditions would not be able to take the drug and since many of those who were impotent were elderly and taking medication to control heart conditions, Viagra would not be suitable for them. "In addition some of the men might prefer to use injections or vacuum pumps. We do not expect that those who do take Viagra will want more than four pills a month." the-times.co.uk

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