{"id":8440,"date":"2015-09-14T02:08:17","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T02:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edrugstore.md\/blog\/?p=8440"},"modified":"2015-09-14T19:34:54","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T19:34:54","slug":"why-do-viagra-prices-vary-so-much-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/erectile-dysfunction\/viagra\/why-do-viagra-prices-vary-so-much-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do Viagra Prices Vary So Much Worldwide?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Prices<\/a>
Prices for Viagra can vary dramatically from one country to another.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a 1913 poem, Gertrude Stein opined that \u201cRose is a rose is a rose is a rose.\u201d While that observation may very well hold true in the world of botany, when it comes to international drug prices, there seems to be no such uniformity.<\/p>\n

A man buying Viagra in China or Italy, for example, will pay a price much lower than he would if he were buying the drug in the United States. This conundrum has puzzled and vexed consumers for decades, and there is little likelihood of any significant change within the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

Drug prices worldwide reflect competitive factors and the differential pricing strategies of pharmaceutical companies that take into consideration what the vast majority of consumers in any given market can afford to pay.<\/p>\n

Price Disparities Noted <\/b><\/p>\n

However, disparities still crop up in markets that might be considered relatively comparable in terms of competitive pressures and economic status. One such anomaly was pointed out recently in an online article<\/a> by Sue Dunlevy, national health correspondent for News Corp Australia.<\/p>\n

Dunlevy reports that men in Australia are paying roughly 140 percent more for Viagra than their counterparts in the United Kingdom. Pfizer, the drugmaker that introduced Viagra to the world, has lost its patent on the drug in both markets. As a consequence, generic versions of the drug have come onto the market, forcing Pfizer to lower its \u00a0Viagra prices to better compete with its generic competitors.<\/p>\n

Australia-UK Price Comparisons<\/b><\/p>\n

Dunlevy writes that Viagra prices in Australia dropped sharply after Pfizer\u2019s patent for the drug expired in May 2014, falling from a range of A$65-A$85 (US$47.35-US$61.92) for a four-pack, or A$16.25-A$21.25 (US$11.84-US$15.48) per pill, to A$9-A$13 (US$6.56-US$9.47) for a four-pack, or A$2.25-A$3.25 (US$1.64-US$2.37) per pill. While this represents a sharp drop in Australian prices for Viagra, Dunlevy writes, the drug is still considerably more expensive in Australia than in Great Britain. The pill can be purchased in the United Kingdom for as little as \u00a35 (US$7.80) per eight-pack, or less than US$1.00 a pill.<\/p>\n

\"Supply-demand
Supply-demand forces also play a significant role in setting prices for Viagra in various markets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Dunlevy\u2019s article points up the disparity between the lowest prices for Viagra in Australia and the U.K., she also sheds some light on the wide range of prices in any given market. Although Viagra is available in the U.K. for less than US$1 a pill from the Rowlands and Co-op pharmacy chains, other pharmacy companies charge as much as US$3.90 a pill, according to Dunlevy. Buy your Viagra from the U.K.\u2019s Day Lewis or Pharmacy2U chains, and you\u2019ll pay anywhere from US$1.56 to US$1.66 per pill.<\/p>\n

Prices Vary in Australia Too <\/b><\/p>\n

Even in Australia, you will pay different prices for Viagra depending on the pharmacy from which you purchase the drug. Pharmacy Direct has among the lowest prices at US$1.64 per pill when you buy a four-pack of 50-milligram Viagra tablets. If you decide instead to take your business to Chemist Warehouse, you\u2019ll be paying roughly $2.37 per pill.<\/p>\n

Interviewed by Dunlevy, Philip Clarke, professor of health economics at the University of Melbourne, said the Australia-U.K. disparity in Viagra prices is just the latest example of \u201cthe limited pharmacy competition in Australia compared to other countries like the U.K.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prices Higher in the US<\/b><\/p>\n

As previously noted, Pfizer\u2019s Viagra patents in both Australia and the United Kingdom have expired, opening the little blue pill to competition from generic formulations of sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient in Viagra. However much they might vary, Viagra prices in both Australia and the United Kingdom are sharply lower than those in the United States where Pfizer\u2019s patent for Viagra will not expire until April 2020.<\/p>\n

However, American buyers of Viagra won\u2019t have to wait until 2020 to see some lower prices for the impotence medication, because a generic is expected to hit the market in the closing days of 2017. Under an agreement that Pfizer struck with Israeli-based Teva Pharmaceuticals in late 2013, the latter has been cleared to begin selling a generic version of Viagra on December 11, 2017. In order to market its generic form of the drug, Teva will be required to pay royalties to Pfizer until the 2020 expiration of Pfizer\u2019s Viagra patent.<\/p>\n

Other Patents Set to Expire<\/b><\/p>\n

Further price competition in the American market for impotence drugs is likely in 2017 because Eli Lilly & Company\u2019s U.S. patent on Cialis is scheduled to expire that year. And in order to better position itself for the post-patent period, Lilly has agreed to license the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi to market an over-the-counter version of Cialis if the FDA gives its okay for the move. Under that accord, Sanofi would pay licensing fees to Lilly for the privilege of selling the OTC formulation of Cialis.<\/p>\n

\"Generic
Generic competition for Viagra and other impotence drugs will force down prices in markets where patents for the brand-name medications have expired.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yet another impotence drug, Levitra, is scheduled to come off U.S. patent in the fall of 2018, opening the door to still more generic competition in the overall market for medications to treat erection problems. Each of these events is likely to increase competitive pressures in the impotence drug market and force prices for these medications still lower.<\/p>\n

As Prices Drop, Market Expands<\/b><\/p>\n

Although the expiration of patents and the subsequent introduction of generics force prices lower, the availability of these drugs at more reasonable prices tends to expand the market by bringing prices within the range of more consumers.<\/p>\n

On the eve of the expiration of Pfizer\u2019s Viagra patent in China, market observers were predicting a major expansion of that country\u2019s overall market for impotence drugs. Citigroup predicted that China\u2019s market for the drugs very likely would triple from 1.7 billion yuan ($274 million)\u00a0in 2013 to more than 5 billion yuan ($805 million) by 2018. Lower prices per pill expands the market to consumers who previously couldn\u2019t afford the medications at all.<\/p>\n

Canadian Viagra Decision <\/b><\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s Supreme Court handed down a decision in late 2012 that essentially annulled Pfizer\u2019s Viagra patent in that country, thus opening the Canadian market to generic competition roughly two years earlier than would have happened had Pfizer retained the patent. And although that decision allowed generic manufacturers, such as Teva, which had brought the patent-ending suit against Pfizer, to begin selling their formulations of sildenafil citrate, the ruling couldn\u2019t help but affect Viagra\u2019s brand-name competitors, such as Cialis.<\/p>\n

All of the popular impotence medications belong to a family of drugs known collectively as PDE5 inhibitors, so called for their ability to temporarily disable the phosphodiesterase-5 enzyme, which can short-circuit erectile function. Although each drug has its own unique chemical structure, they all work much the same and have similar side effects. Allowing a generic version of any one of these drugs onto the market is bound to put price pressure on all other participants in the market.<\/p>\n

Don Amerman<\/i><\/a> is a freelance author who writes extensively about a wide array of nutrition and health-related topics. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a 1913 poem, Gertrude Stein opined that \u201cRose is a rose is a rose is a rose.\u201d While that observation may very well hold true in the world of botany, when it comes to international drug prices, there seems to be no such uniformity. A man buying Viagra in China or Italy, for example, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viagra"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t