Pfizer Drops Application for Viagra Without a Prescription
Pfizer on Thursday said it withdrew an application to offer Viagra without a prescription through EU pharmacies.
The company said yesterday it had withdrawn its application to “switch” Viagra – or sell it over-the-counter – across Europe after differences over safety issues with the European Medicines Agency. Pfizer said it still thinks that Viagra at a 50-milligram dose is a suitable candidate for non-prescription supply through pharmacists.
“The withdrawal of the application will enable evaluation of further information and additional data that may be required to allow any future assessments under the centralized procedure,” according to a company press release.
Pfizer reported global sales of Viagra of nearly $1.8 billion in 2007, up 6 percent on the previous year. Sales rose a further 13 per cent in the first half of this year. A switch to non-prescription sales could have boosted revenues through extensive marketing and the possibility of charging higher prices.
Pfizer has also suffered from the very strong growth in illegal sales of “Generic Viagra” counterfeits, exploiting Viagra’s well-known brand name or image as “the blue pill.”
Pfizer believes that access to 50 mg Viagra without a prescription in a pharmacy setting in the EU would provide valuable benefits to male patients suffering from ED. The company estimates that 30 percent of men in Europe seeking treatment for erectile dysfunction do so outside the health care system, partly because of the stigma associated with the condition.
Through over the counter sales, the drug manufacturer might have been able to recapture a share of those customers who purchase Viagra illegally rather than discussing the matter with their doctor and possibly being refused the drug.
Rory O’Connor, Pfizer vice president of Medical and Regulatory Affairs, said the company’s top priority was patient health and safety. “We will continue to work with regulators to improve the availability of our medicines to patients and physicians and the benefit they get from our therapies.”
[tags]viagra, over the counter viagra, viagra without a prescription[/tags]
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