Room for growth: Viagra patent ends.

There can be few drugs in recent decades which have become so embedded in popular consciousness as Viagra. The diamond-shaped blue pill revolutionised treatment for erectile dysfunction. Its launch 15 years ago caused a sensation - for a time it was the fastest-selling drug in US history. One of my colleagues wrote that some doctors were complaining of cramp after writing out so many prescriptions. And as for the jokes - from the witty to the puerile - Viagra was the drug that kept on giving. But from midnight on Friday the drug came off-patent. That means Pfizer will face tough - I hesitate to write stiff - opposition from rival firms who will be able to sell a generic version under its chemical name sildenafil citrate. It will mean the price falling from up to £10 a tablet to perhaps less than £1.

Pfizer still has another seven years of patent protection in the US, but will be launching its own generic version of Viagra in the UK. Sounds like a chance to set up a business in the UK exporting Viagra to the US ! Any one 'up' for it contact us at this blog.

Eddie

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