40 percent of Viagra in local market are fake

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.