Japan Government OKs Viagra Quickly
TOKYO (AP) -- In a nation where drug approval can take years, the Japanese government wasted no time in giving the go-ahead to the world's fastest-selling new pill, Viagra.
Just six months after New York drug maker Pfizer applied to sell the anti-impotence pill in Japan, the Health and Welfare Ministry on Monday gave the company official permission to import and produce the drug here.
''We see impotence as a disease and Viagra as an epoch-making drug in its ability to treat it effectively,'' said Toshiki Hirai, director of the ministry's Pharmaceutical Safety Bureau.
The ministry also sped up the approval process with another unprecedented move -- using clinical trial results from the United States as well as Japan.
''The effectiveness of this drug was measured according to global standards, not just Japanese standards,'' said Masafumi Shirai, chairman of the Japan Society of Impotence Research, who helped conduct tests on the drug.
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Japanese unit of New York-based Pfizer Inc., plans to begin selling the product in Japan in one to two months, a company official said.
In a Tokyo news conference, Pfizer president Leslie Patterson said he could not say how much the pills would cost in Japan because the manufacturer is still in negotiations with the health ministry.
Until now, the pills have cost about $50 on the black market in Japan, compared to roughly $10 per pill charged by pharmacies in the United States.
Japan is the 54th country to approve Viagra, which had a global sales last year of $788 million. |
