It is no secret that you will likely pay some big money when you have a prescription. Well, there is good news for frugal men that are having issues with erections: there will soon be a generic version of Viagra in America.
First reported by CBS News, there was a recent approval for the FDA's first generic form of the popular impotence drug. The generic form of Viagra will be known as sildenafil citrate.
The maker of the generic form is Israel's Teva. They just so happen to be the largest generic drug maker in the world. They will have exclusive rights to sell this generic form of Viagra for just 180 days and only in the United States. So, when will the generic drug be for sale?
The law governing patents in the United States provides pharmaceutical businesses with exclusive market rights to selling their products for twenty years. Generic companies have the option to challenge the validity of the Viagra patent, even though it is valid until 2020.
a generic company can earn the right to sell copies of their product before the patent's expiration date if they can demonstrate that the patented invention is neither original nor obvious.
Even if generic versions of the medication are significantly less expensive, market experts at Pfizer believe that approximately twenty percent of the company's consumers will continue to purchase name-brand pills.
It also plans to sell these prescriptions at the same discounted price as these generics to uninsured patients through Pfizer's online site. It expects to offer these prescriptions for as little as $49 in shops to males with particular insurance policies.
Teva and Mylan have remained extremely secretive about the circumstances surrounding their decision to contest this patent, most likely to preserve their limited exclusivity on generic medications.
The Associated Press reports that some different companies want to release generics throughout the summer of 2018, which has the potential to bring the price down by as much as 90 percent.
The actual selling of the generic Viagra started in December 2017; apparently, there is an agreement that Teva has with Pfizer, the maker of Viagra.
Because of the agreement, Teva can not put the generic form up for sale until then, according to a report by RAPS.com. But Teva has been selling its generic form of Viagra in the European Union since 2013.
There has been some talk that the generic sildenafil citrate from Teva could cut into the Viagra profits that the Pfizer Company receives. Pfizer's profit was around $1.7 billion in the United States alone.
There is an excellent market for medication that can help with erectile dysfunction. There has been an estimation of more than $4 billion spent on the medication worldwide.
There is also another pharmaceutical company that intends to begin selling a generic version of Viagra as well. This company is Mylan. Mylan wanted to also begin sales of generic Viagra within the United States in 2017.
At least nine other drug-makers want to sell sildenafil citrate and have applied to do so with the FDA. There will have to be royalties paid from Teva to Pfizer until 2020; Pfizer's patent on Viagra will expire.