* Study says around 6 million Mexican men impotent
By Elinor Comlay
MEXICO CITY, March 17 (Reuters) - Mexican men who have difficulty swallowing Viagra pills will soon have a chewable version of Pfizer Inc's(PFE.N)
impotence drug.
Known as Viagra Jet, it was developed over four years in Mexico, where the company will start selling it on March 21.
The U.S. pharmaceutical company said on Thursday that the chewable form of the 13-year-old pale blue pill was developed in response to studies of the
Mexican market, which is Viagra's biggest in Latin America after Brazil.
"It's a new alternative for patients and doctors," said Beatriz Romero, Pfizer's marketing manager in Mexico. "The chewable format could appeal to
patients, particularly those who can't swallow the tablets."
Pfizer said studies have shown that as many as 60 percent of people grind tablets or open capsules to make the contents easier to ingest.
About 6 million Mexican men suffer from impotence, according to a 2001 study published in the medical journal Revista Mexicana Urologia. Pfizer said
it estimates that 1 million of them receive treatment.
Pfizer said it sells 3 million Viagra tablets a year in Mexico. According to research firm IMS Health, Viagra has about one third of the market share
in Latin America's second biggest economy.
Viagra Jet is only available in Mexico, but the company may introduce it to other Latin American countries, depending upon local regulatory approval,
Pfizer spokeswoman Karla Fuentes said.
Mexican sales of Viagra were just under $55 million in 2010, according to IMS Health, while Pfizer reported global sales of the drug of $1.93 billion.
Despite these figures, Viagra sales never quite matched Wall Street's earlier hopes, in large part due to competition from Eli Lilly & Co's
(LLY.N) longer-acting Cialis brand. Eli Lilly officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Cialis posted sales of $1.7 billion in 2010, up nine percent on the previous year, while Viagra sales climbed 2 percent in the same period.
The development of Viagra Jet will not extend the drug's patent life beyond its 2012 expiration, Pfizer said.
A number of the company's patents are due to expire over the next few years, and it has said that it would drastically reduce its research budget to
shrink operations.
Among the plants due to close is a factory in Sandwich, England, where Viagra was developed. [ID:nLDE7101MP] (Additional reporting by Ransdell
Pierson; Editing by Dave Graham and Richard Chang)Woooosh - 3-17-2011 at 10:25 PM
What flavor?Alan - 3-18-2011 at 08:14 AM
It must not be as fast-acting because their original chewable tablet only gave you a stiff neck The Gull - 3-18-2011 at 08:26 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Woooosh
What flavor?
Adobadardrrm8e - 3-18-2011 at 02:18 PM
In even later breaking news...
Pfizer has come up with an AIDS vaccine.....
It's called Trinoassatolfishabductor - 3-20-2011 at 07:42 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by rdrrm8e
In even later breaking news...
