40 percent of Viagra in local market are fake

Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

"Viagra gives men a powerful performance when they want it, not when they don't," claims pharmaceutical firm Pfizer on its website.

The firm said for many men, the erectile dysfunction (ED) drug became effective in as fast as 14 minutes and lasted at least 4 hours.

However, if nothing occurred after an hour or two, it is just possible that you had taken fake Viagra, as PT Pfizer Indonesia supplied only 60 percent of the small blue tablets circulating in the country last year. It is believed the remaining 40 percent are counterfeit products or look-alike placebos.

The statement from Pfizer comes amid plans by international and local companies to step up pressure in the country against counterfeit products, including medicine, which are said to have reached an "alarming level".

Pfizer public affairs director Daisy K. Primayanti told The Jakarta Post recently that victims of fake Viagra were usually those who bought the drugs without a prescription from "unofficial" drugstores.

She said the problem was a "matter of pride", as buying authentic Viagra from licensed drugstores required a doctor's prescription -- so many men sought channels through which to procure the drug without a prescription.

Pfizer also discovered that other victims were typically men without ED, but who were taking the drug for recreational purposes.

"Viagra is not an aphrodisiac, and must therefore be used only for treatment," she said.

The high demand combined with cultural factors has apparently boosted sales of counterfeit Viagra. The fake blue tablets have expanded from a 15 percent market share in 2000 to 40 percent last year.

Viagra, or sildenafil citrate, produced in 1998 by Pfizer Inc., was the first oral therapy drug to be released to help men with ED, and first entered Indonesia in 1999.

Initial sales was restricted to five major cities and the drug required a prescription written out by one of the country's 100 top urologists, andrologists or cardiologists.

Sales was strictly regulated because the drug is not recommended for people with heart problems and other specific health conditions that required medical consultations.

As sales of the blue tablets expanded to cover most major cities across the country, more doctors were allowed to prescribe the drug, Daisy said.

She said the most common counterfeiting method Pfizer had uncovered was producing two to four "Viagra" out of a single tablet mixed with flour or some other powder to the appropriate size.

The fake tablets were then sold at the same price as the authentic drug, because selling at a lower price was apt to raise customers' suspicions.

Researchers have said in various studies and reports that they did not know whether the additional ingredients were potentially harmful, but the user ran the risk of poor quality and possible toxicity -- not to mention that there was a high likelihood that the tablets would have no clinical effect.

According to Jakarta-based International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group, the annual turnover of counterfeit drugs in the country is about US$500 million, against the industry's market value of $2 billion.

Pfizer Indonesia declined to provide the total sales figure for authentic Viagra.

Daisy said Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies had determined that fighting counterfeiters individually was costly and required a constant monitoring of markets, so they created the Indonesian Anti-Counterfeiting Society (MIAP).

MIAP groups together mostly international companies to fight counterfeiting through awareness campaigns that underline the dangers of using fake products.

Pfizer claims Viagra now holds 82 percent of the country's ED drug market share, while the remainder is shared by its competitors, such as Levitra from Bayer AG and GlaxoSmithKline Plc, and Cialis from Lilly-Icos.

According to the firm, Viagra has helped 16 million men worldwide since its launch, with an efficacy of four out of five men.

As to avoid being the fifth man, especially due to taking a fake tablet, Pfizer does not recommend that anyone purchase any prescription-only medicine without first seeing a doctor.