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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Barron Von Hymen who wrote (5007)	8/18/1998 6:22:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Thailand, Chile Approves Viagra Tuesday August 18 3:14 PM EDT BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand and Chile approved the import of the impotency drug Viagra, officials said Tuesday. Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, applied for approval from Thailand's Food and Drug Administration in February. Since then, a black market has developed for the drug, with a single pill selling for about 1,200 baht, or $30. That's about triple the retail price of the drug in the United States. The Chilean government on Tuesday approved the import and sale of the impotency drug, and officials said it will be available here during the second half of September. 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 bogus tablets. The go-ahead to import Viagra should help diminish the black market, Thai officials said. Under Thailand's drug rules, Viagra will not be available in drug stores, but will be sold only in hospital pharmacies with a prescription from either a urologist, cardiologist, endocrinologist or psychiatrist. In Chile, the drug ''will only be sold with a doctor's prescription and the box will have to carry a warning that it can only be used under strict medical supervision,'' said Dr. Reynando Gomez of the Public Health Institute. Chili has banned advertising of the drug. The pill will cost 400 baht ($10) each in Thailand, about the same as in the United States. In Chile a pill will cost 7,000 pesos, or $15. Mongkol na Songkhla, secretary general of the Thai drug agency, estimated in June that there are about 100,000 Thais who qualify for prescriptions. He said the agency will continue to monitor the drug after its approval because of questions about its safety. U.S. regulators have said that although dozens of men have died while taking the drug, there is no reason to believe that the drug is dangerous when taken as directed. A warning on the U.S. label advises men taking certain heart medications, such as nitrates, and those prone to heart attack not to take Viagra. dailynews.yahoo.com