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

To: James who wrote (6999)	2/12/1999 9:36:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

02/12 06:16 INTERVIEW-China drug firm jumps gun on Viagra By Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING, Feb 12 (Reuters) - A Chinese pharmaceutical firm that launched an anti-impotence drug under the same Chinese name popularly given to Viagra expects to earn one billion yuan ($120 million) from the pills this year, a company official said on Friday. The privately run herbal drug firm Shenyang Pharon Pharmaceutical Co Ltd in northeastern Shenyang city launched its drug "Weige Kaitai" this week. It has beaten U.S. pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc <PFE.N>, maker of Viagra, into China's vast market of sexually frustrated men. Viagra is reported in the Chinese state media to be undergoing tests in China before it can be released for sale, but already it is widely known as a potential miracle cure for impotency. Cashing in on Viagra's name, Pharon Pharmaceutical trademarked its own potency drug "Weige", literally meaning "great brother". Viagra is popularly known in China and Hong Kong as "Weige". In Taiwan, Viagra is registered under the Chinese name "Wei Er Gang", literally meaning "fierce and strong". A packet of eight capsules of Weige Kaitai sells for 95 yuan ($11). The diamond-shaped blue pill manufactured by Pfizer fetches $48 per capsule on the Chinese blackmarket. Jiang Wei, president of Pharon Group (Hong Kong) Co Ltd, the parent of Shenyang Pharon, defended his decision to jump the gun on Pfizer. "I'm an expert on erectile dysfunction. So everybody calls me 'Weige'," he said in an interview. "It's not immoral. It's not protectionism," said Jiang, an expert on traditional Chinese medicine. "Pfizer does not own the trademark 'Weige'," Jiang added. Domestic makers of liquor, beverages and biscuits have reportedly applied to trademark their products "Weige". "Anyone can call their product 'Weige' before it is trademarked," the 43-year-old Jiang said. Pfizer's office in Beijing and trademark authorities declined to comment. Pharon spent 20 million yuan and four years on research and development of "Weige", Jiang said. "Weige" was expected to help boost the group's total sales to 1.5 billion yuan this year from 120 million yuan last year, Jiang said. The pharmaceutical firm would spend 100 million yuan on advertising this year to promote the drug, he said. After Pfizer receives approval to market Viagra, Pharon expects to share the market 50-50, Jiang said. Pharon Group boasts net assets of 500 million yuan and liabilities of 30 million yuan, he said. After-tax profits were expected to soar to 200 million yuan this year from just 10 million last year, he said. The Liaoning provincial health department approved Pharon's potency drug in 1996, but the company delayed its launch until this year, Jiang said. More than 300 men took "Weige" in clinical trials, with a success rate of 92 percent from the viewpoint of traditional Chinese medicine, he said. Nearly 600 Chinese men are taking Viagra in clinical trials as health authorities evaluate the drug, according to a Chinese newspaper report. The government was expected to announce a decision before the end of the year. "Weige" is made from herbs and has no side effects, Jiang said. He declined to give details of the herbs. The English-language China Daily said "Viagra" ranked alongside "Titanic" -- the name of the blockbuster movie -- as the best known English words in China last year. moneynet.com@NEWS-P2&Index=0&HeadlineURL=../News/NewsHeadlines.asp&DISABLE_FORM=&NAVSVC=News\Company