Good news for users of the little blue pill. Drugmaker Pfizer is launching its own generic version of Viagra when the impotence pill gets its first generic competition next week. The AP reports Pfizer Inc. will begin selling the alternate white pill at half the $65-a-pill retail price on Monday, the same day its patent-protected monopoly ends.
Generic maker Teva Pharmaceuticals can also start selling its version then, but has yet to disclose the price. “We believe that the story for Viagra isn’t done. It’s just going to be a new chapter,” says Jim Sage, president of U.S. brands for Pfizer Essential Health, which sells its older medicines. Launched in 1998, Viagra was the first pill for impotence. Eli Lilly’s Cialis came out in 2003 and now dominates the U.S. market with on-demand pills and daily, low-dose ones.
Source: AP News