The advent of low-cost generic alternatives to Viagra seems to have done little, if anything, to slow the flow of counterfeit formulations of the drug into markets around the world.
Introduction
Despite the availability of lower-priced generic alternatives to Viagra, counterfeit Viagra continues to flood erectile dysfunction drug markets worldwide. Headlines from across the globe make clear that fake Viagra is still going strong.
Within the United States, counterfeit Viagra is most often advertised for sale on the internet, while in some countries the fakes can be found on the shelves of street markets as well.
It’s hardly a new problem. Counterfeit copies of the iconic little blue pill have been around nearly as long as the authentic medication itself. The popular ED drug won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late March 1998 and went on sale in the United States shortly after that.
Within a very short time after the revolutionary new ED drug became available to the public, counterfeit drugmakers began churning out millions of fake Viagra tablets to take advantage of the medication’s popularity.
More than two decades have passed, and nothing seems to have slowed the flood of fake Viagra. While some speculated that lower-cost generic formulations of the drug would erode demand for counterfeit Viagra, that hasn’t happened, at least not yet.
Generic Viagra Debuts
Under a licensing agreement negotiated between Pfizer and generic drugmaker Teva Pharmaceuticals, the latter was allowed to introduce a generic formulation of Viagra on the U.S. market on December 11, 2017. At the same time, Greenstone LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer, introduced its own generic version of the medication.
Pfizer’s final U.S. patent on Viagra doesn’t expire until April 2020, but the deal it negotiated with Teva gave the Israeli-based generics giant the right to introduce its generic Viagra well in advance of the patent expiration. For that privilege, Teva pays Pfizer a licensing fee.
Because Pfizer’s U.S. patent on the drug remains valid, generic competition has thus far been limited to the formulations manufactured and sold by Teva and Greenstone.
That will change in April 2020. The expiration of Pfizer’s patent will open the door to broader generic competition. In anticipation of that moment, numerous generic drug companies have had their generic formulations of the drug approved tentatively by the FDA.
The increased availability of generic Viagra beginning in April 2020 should exert further downward pressure on generic Viagra prices. Whether such lower prices will dampen the market for counterfeit Viagra remains to be seen.
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What’s in Fake Viagra?
There is no easy answer to this question. By their very nature, counterfeit prescription drugs aren’t subject to any real oversight or testing, so what little we know has come from laboratory analysis of fake Viagra that’s been seized.
Some of the fakes actually contain sildenafil citrate, which is the active ingredient in Viagra, but the amount of active ingredient varies from too little to be effective to so much that it’s a threat to the user’s health.
And drug counterfeiters aren’t too fussy about the materials they choose as fillers and coloring agents. Potentially toxic wallboard material is sometimes used as filler while printing inks are often used to give fake pills the desired hue.
Fighting Fake Viagra
Hardly a day passes without a new report of counterfeit Viagra seizures somewhere in the world. Here are just a few of the most recent headlines:
- Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce announced an initiative in early September 2019 to seize and destroy a wide array of counterfeit products. It noted that fake Viagra has been found on sale at multiple locations in the Thai capital of Bangkok as well as at other popular tourist destinations.
- British authorities announced in August 2019 that they had seized more than £50 million (almost $61 million) in fake Viagra over the past five years.
- A federal grand jury indicted a Florida doctor in April 2019 for selling counterfeit Viagra that had been sourced from Hong Kong.
- A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty in federal court to an attempt to sell thousands of fake Viagra and Cialis tablets in western Pennsylvania.
- A California man was sentenced to 100 months in federal prison for smuggling prescription-grade drugs from China, which he then used to produce so-called herbal remedies for ED that were sold for $11 million on the U.S. market.
- Pfizer, which developed and markets Viagra, continues to wage war against the distribution of counterfeit Viagra in Hong Kong.
Fake Viagra Is Big Business
Despite the best efforts of drug regulatory agencies and customs authorities worldwide, the trade in counterfeit Viagra remains big business. It is, of course, just one segment of a much larger trade in counterfeit prescription drugs of almost every variety. However, almost since its introduction, Viagra has been one of the most widely counterfeited drugs.
According to an article posted at Valisure.com, a CNN investigation a few years back documented the lengths to which counterfeiters will go to make their products seem legitimate. Investigators found that fake Viagra pills manufactured in China were then shipped to Hong Kong and subsequently sent to the United Kingdom via the free trade zone in Dubai.
From the U.K. the counterfeit Viagra was sent to fulfillment centers in the Bahamas where the pills were divided up into individual consumer-size packets. When online orders for the drugs were received in the Bahamas, the fake Viagra then was sent back to the U.K. and then on to the customer. The theory was that drugs received from a trusted country such as the U.K. would be more likely to be perceived as legitimate than if they’d been sent from other parts of the world.
Why Not Buy the Real Deal?
With the price of generic Viagra as reasonable as it is — and likely to drop further before too long — it hardly makes sense to risk your health by buying Viagra from questionable online suppliers.
Longtime online prescription drug service eDrugstore.com can supply generic Viagra at reasonable prices and make the whole transaction much more convenient for you. By ordering online, you’ll skip the bothersome travel to and from the pharmacy. If you don’t yet have a doctor’s prescription, eDrugstore will arrange a complimentary online consultation with a licensed U.S. physician who can authorize a prescription if appropriate. That will save you the time and money involved in a visit to a doctor’s office.
Based in Tempe, Arizona, eDrugstore offers not only Viagra and its generic equivalent but also a full range of other brand-name and generic ED drugs. If you’d like to learn more about all the services eDrugstore has to offer, visit its Erectile Dysfunction page.
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