With Pfizer set to lose patent of Viagra Drug, Indian Companies are in fray to unload their Versions in the Market

August 7, 2018:

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is set to lose Patent of its blockbuster drug Viagra in US, Indian Companies are gearing up with their versions of the iconic Blue pill, hoping to tap into a lucrative market.

Pfizer’s patent for formulation of Viagra, used to treat impotence in men, ends in US in 2020.

This will open doors for Indian companies to target the nearly 5 crore Americans who suffer from erectile dysfunction in what is India’s largest market for exports of medicines.

Seven Indian companies have already secured required permissions. They are among 15 Companies worldwide that have been granted approval by US health watchdog the Food and Drug Administration, to produce sildenafil citrate, the formulation patented as Viagra.

Indian companies in the fray to sell the blue pill are Rubicon Research, Hetero Drugs, Macleods Pharma, Dr.Reddy’s, Aurobindo Pharma, Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Ajanta Pharma.

Indian entry could dent Pfizer’s stronglehold on the drug.

Its global sales from just Viagra touched $1.685 billion, over Rs 10,900 crore, in 2014.

According to an American company, Transparency Market Research, the global erectile dysfunction drugs market was valued at $4.35 billion in 2016

Source Hindustan Times