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May 4, 2001
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Money > Business Headlines > Report May 4, 2001 |
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Desi Viagra comes a cropperBhupesh Bhandari Wonder drug Viagra (sildenafil citrate) has rejuvenated the lives of millions abroad, but its desi clones have failed to repeat the performance in India. Desi avatars-Caverta, Alsigra, Juan et al-have seen few takers. "It's a dead product," says a spokesperson of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, referring to Caverta. "Alembic has done business worth Rs 4.2 million in the month-and-a-half after its launch in February this year. Still, its performance has been below expectations," adds a senior executive of Alembic Ltd, which markets Alsigra. "There has been a severe drop in the sales of most companies, including a drop in field morale," Cadila Pharmaceuticals (brand: Juan) said in response to queries from Business Standard. Chemists too have written off the products. Several of them said that they had stopped stocking it as not even a handful of buyers were asking for it. Some of them said that they have not been able to sell a single unit since the Indian Viagra was launched a few months ago. With Viagra creating waves abroad, and estimates saying that 10 per cent of the male population between 16-69 years in India suffers from erectile dysfunction, it was only natural for Indian pharmaceutical companies to get excited at the prospects of the drug in India. This combined with the population showing no signs of a slowdown, pharma companies fell over each other to launch the Indian Viagra. The failure of the drug is being attributed to the government decree that the drug cannot be sold without a prescription. In addition, the prescription has to be given by not a general practitioner but from either a urologist, endocrinologist or psychiatrist. Every fresh purchase is to be accompanied by a fresh prescription. And all chemists are required to keep a record of all prescriptions. This has led to a couple of problems. One, the small population of urologists, endocrinologists and psychiatrists restricted the number of prescriptions. Moreover, it killed the upcountry market as these specialists are there only in large cities. And two, the problem of maintaining records dampened the enthusiasm of the chemists. Powered by YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ:
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