Viagra sales sag due to rise of generic rival in Korea

Sales of the anti-impotence drug Viagra have nearly halved in Korea in five months since production of a local generic version was approved earlier this year, industry data showed yesterday.

According to the data compiled by Woori Investment & Securities, sales of Viagra, manufactured by Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea, the local unit of Pfizer, came to 910 million won ($841,900) in September.

That compares with a monthly average of 2.13 billion won between January and April.

Korean drugmakers took over the sales loss and threatened Pfizer’s No. 1 position, with sales of Hanmi Pharm’s generic drug reaching 670 million won, Daewoong Pharma earning 120 million won and CJ Cheiljedang, making 100 million won from their equivalents, the data showed.

The country’s drug safety watchdog granted local pharmaceutical firms the rights to manufacture Viagra generics from May, as the world’s largest drug maker lost its exclusive right to Viagra’s core material sildenafil that month.

The world-famous drug was first introduced to Korea in 1999.

Market insiders said the local generics’ lower prices and similar effect boosted their sales increase in a short time.

Pfizer Korea has stepped up to maintain its leading status in the local impotence-treating market. It will soon have a film-type generic Viagra, produced and offered by a Korean drugmaker, on the shelves of local pharmacies.

Yonhap