Pfizer plans to make Viagra in China -paper
Reuters Story - April 23, 1999 06:03
BEIJING, April 23 (Reuters) - U.S. pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc plans to manufacture the anti-impotence drug Viagra in China, the Beijing Evening News reported on Friday.
Pfizer planned to seek permission from Chinese drug regulators next month to make and sell Viagra in China, the newspaper said.
If approved by the regulators, Viagra would be manufactured at Pfizer's plant in the northeastern city of Dalian from September, it said.
Clinical trials of Viagra in Beijing and Shanghai were completed recently, the newspaper said.
Pfizer's Shanghai sales manager was quoted as saying Viagra would not be sold in China as a health product.
The diamond-shaped blue pill would be sold as a drug under the "strict guidance" of doctors, said the sales manager, who was identified by his surname, Zhang.
Pfizer has not decided what Chinese name to use for the drug.
Viagra is known in Taiwan as "Wei Er Gang," literally meaning "fierce and strong." But the potency drug is popularly known in China and Hong Kong as "Weige," meaning "great brother."
Shenyang Pharon Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a privately-owned Chinese herbal drug firm in the northeastern city of Shenyang, launched its own anti-impotence drug in February under the name "Weige Kaitai."
The State Pharmaceutical Bureau has ordered Pharon to recall all its pills from shops within one month and launched an investigation into possible violation of pharmaceutical regulations, including those on trademarks.
Jiang Wei, president of Pharon Group (Hong Kong), Pharon's parent, said in February Pfizer did not own the Weige trademark.
Jiang, an expert on traditional Chinese medicine, said "Weige" was his nickname and he earned it as an expert on erectile dysfunction.
"Viagra" ranked alongside "Titanic" -- the name of the blockbuster movie -- as the best known English words in China last year, according to the English-language China Daily.
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