Effective ED Treatment. Private. Convenient. Trusted.
Doctor-prescribed ED medication delivered discreetly to your door.
Physicians
Private
Delivery
ED3 Max Dissolvable ED Pills
Long-lasting results up to 36 hours.
- Up to 36 Hour Window
- Improved Confidence
- Works When You Need It
Sildenafil 25mg
Proven effective treatment.
- Starts Working in 30–60 Min
- Effective, As Needed
- Trusted & Reliable
ED4 Chew Gum
Low daily dose for continuous readiness.
- Taken Once Daily
- Continuous Readiness
- Improves Confidence
Hard on the heels of the expiration of Pfizer’s patent for Viagra in China, a domestic pharmaceutical company in that country has announced that it will soon begin marketing its own version of the pill that has revolutionized impotence treatment worldwide.
A number of Chinese drug manufacturers have been vying over the last few months to become the first to win approval for their generic version of Viagra from China’s State Food and Drug Administration. In September the Chinese regulatory agency gave the go-ahead to Guangzhou Baiyunshan (also rendered as Bai Yun Shan) Pharmaceutical to begin marketing its formulation of the impotence drug, which will be sold under the trade name Jinge (also rendered as Jin Ge).
Pfizer’s History in China
Pfizer has had a rocky road in China in terms of its patent for Viagra, which was first applied for in 1994, four years before Viagra was approved for sale in the United States. Although Pfizer won tentative approval for its Viagra patent from China’s State Intellectual Property Office in 2001, the matter was not truly settled until 2007 when an appeals court in Beijing handed down a ruling barring Chinese drugmakers from marketing their versions of the drug.
During the six-year legal tussle over the Viagra patent, Guangzhou Baiyunshan in 2003 obtained new drug certificates for the use of sildenafil citrate — Viagra’s active ingredient. However, approval to actually manufacture the drug was held up by the ongoing patent dispute and its eventual resolution in favor of Pfizer.
Door Opens to Generics
With Pfizer’s Viagra patent expiring in May 2014, the door is now open for the marketing of Chinese-manufactured versions of Viagra. Fortunately for Guangzhou Baiyunshan, it was the first to get government approval to introduce its generic version of the popular impotence drug.
Competition among Chinese drugmakers for approval to market generic versions of Viagra has been keen, hardly a surprise when one considers the size of the Chinese market. In a September 10, 2014, post to the Sinosphere blog of “The New York Times,” writer Becky Davis reports that the aging of China’s population will only expand the market for drugs designed to overcome erection problems.
In its “Investigation Report on China Sildenafil Market, 2009-2018,” China Market Research Reports estimates that more than 50 million Chinese men suffer from some form of sexual dysfunction. And those numbers are certain to grow as the country’s population ages.
The Graying of China
Davis cites a report from the United States Department of Economic and Social Affairs that predicts that China’s population of people over 60 will reach 437 million by 2050.
Brightening the outlook for Jinge — and other generic versions of Viagra that may follow — will be its lower price. A recent report from Xinhua, China’s state press agency, said that Jinge’s price will be “a fraction of that of foreign pills.”
Viagra from Pfizer has been priced at more than 90 renminbi (almost $15) per pill. Davis reports that Guangzhou Baiyunshan plans to price Jinge at 30 to 50 renminbi, a price that should make the drug accessible to a larger market.
‘Golden Dagger-Ax’
In a country where symbolism remains important, Guangzhou Bai Yun Shan hopes the brand name for its generic version of sildenafil citrate will help bolster its sales among Chinese men with erection problems. According to Davis, Jin Ge means “golden dagger-ax.” The Chinese drugmaker hopes that its product name will conjure “the image of the phallic, L-shaped blade favored by warriors in the Shang through Han dynasties.”
As a whole, the Chinese pharmaceutical industry — made up of roughly 5,000 drugmakers of all sizes — has concentrated on producing generics and has minimized its investments in developing new medications, according to Davis.
Chinese Focus on Generics
Davis cites an article in China Youth Daily that quotes Long Yongtu, chief negotiator for China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, as saying in 2006 that 90 percent of the country’s pharmaceutical companies produced nothing but generics. Their combined annual sales revenue in 2006 added up to less than $40 billion, “less than that of a single company of Pfizer’s size. In 2013, Pfizer took in $51.3 billion globally.”
In addition to Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra, all of which are available on the Chinese market, impotent men in the world’s most populous country can choose from other treatment options. These include both plant- and animal-based remedies that have been used for centuries to treat erection problems. Among such remedies are cinnamon, ginseng, horny goat weed, deer antler, and sea horse.
Plenty of Drug Scams
Also widely available throughout China and promoted extensively online are so-called drugs that are temptingly low in price but generally provide no measurable remedy at all.
Viagra, introduced on world markets in the late 1990s, is the first of the drugs known as PDE5 inhibitors. Other members of this drug family include Levitra, Cialis, Staxyn, and Stendra. They are known as PDE5 inhibitors because they work by temporarily blocking the effects of an enzyme known as phosphodiesterase-5, which can interfere with normal erectile function.
How Erectile Process Works
In men, feelings of sexual desire in the brain trigger the body to release a flood of nitric oxide and other chemical messengers. Nitric oxide and these other messengers in turn give rise to the production of still other chemicals that relax the smooth muscles that line blood vessels, thus increasing blood flow into the erectile tissues of the penis, allowing it to enlarge and stiffen.
A major player in the process is cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), one of the secondary chemicals produced in the wake of a rise in blood levels of nitric oxide. The PDE5 enzyme breaks down cGMP, thus making it difficult for a man to get and maintain an erection strong enough for intercourse.
By temporarily blocking the effects of the PDE5 enzyme, Viagra and other drugs in the same family make it easier to achieve an erection.
Patent Lost in Several Markets
Pfizer, which still holds the patent on Viagra in the United States, has lost its exclusive rights to manufacture and market the pill in several countries over the last couple of years. In the wake of such patent losses, generic versions of the little blue pill have been introduced in Canada, South Korea, and much of the European Union, including the United Kingdom. China now joins the countries where Pfizer no longer holds a patent on the drug.
Although Pfizer’s Viagra patent in the United States will not expire until April 2020, the giant drugmaker struck an agreement in December 2013 that will allow Teva Pharmaceuticals to begin marketing a generic version of Viagra in December 2017. Teva will reportedly pay Pfizer a royalty for permission to produce its generic version of the little blue pill.
Don Amerman is a freelance author who writes extensively about a wide array of nutrition and health-related topics.
We specialize in providing our over 1,000,000 customers with relevant product and condition information created by our professional editorial staff which includes our team of medical writers, medical practitioners, and health educators. eDrugStore.com Staff on Facebook