Thailand: Generic 'viagra' available next month

[StrontiumDog]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/loca...ble-next-month

Generic 'viagra' available next month

• Published: 5/09/2012 at 07:31 PM
• Online news: Local News

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) plans to produce an affordable, generic anti-impotence drug and says it will be available in the marketplace from Oct 15.


Photo by Peerawat Jariyasombat

GPO chief Witit Artavatkun said on Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given permission to the GPO to produce Silagra - a Viagra equivalent that contains generic sildenafil, the same drug that powers Viagra.

"This will help deal with counterfeit drugs," Dr Witit said. "There are also many elderly people in the country, making this type of drug more popular, but it is less accessible because of its high price."

The generic drug will come in tablet form in dosages of 50mg and 100mg. A 50mg tablet will be sold at 25 baht each and a 100mg tablet 45 baht, he said.

Viagra is currently priced about 200 baht a pill in the market, he added.

The issue has attracted many comments from Thai netizens in different forums.

One of the comments jokingly asked whether the government's 30-baht universal healthcare scheme can be applied.

Another netizen suggested that the generic anti-impotence drug should also be sold in popular convenience stores.

[StrontiumDog]

Thai version of 'Viagra' to be launched next month - The Nation

Thai version of 'Viagra' to be launched next month

Poungchompoo Prasert
The Nation September 6, 2012 1:00 am

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation will launch its erectile dysfunction drug "Sidagra" on October 15 at a fraction of the price of Viagra.

The treatment for the men's disorder has already been registered with the Food and Drug Administration.

Viagra sells for about Bt200 per tablet but Sidagra will cost only Bt25 per 50-milligram tablet and Bt45 per 100mg dose, Dr Witit Artavatkul, managing director of the GPO, said yesterday.

Sales of the inexpensive product would help stem the outbreak of fake medicine, give hope to people with no access to expensive remedies and address the growing needs of the ageing society, he said.

This drug would be popular, he said.

The GPO has also improved and expanded its facilities to meet the PICS standard and raise capacity to five billion tablets in preparation for the Asean Economic Community.

The state enterprise under the Public Health Ministry was eyeing the market for diabetes, high-blood pressure and HIV/Aids medications in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Pornthep Siriwanarangsan, director-general of the Disease Control Department, also warned the public about dengue fever during this rainy season, as 38,500 cases and 42 deaths have already been reported from January 1-September 4.

Last week alone, five people died from this disease, he said.

[Gravedigger]

This drug would be popular, he said.

I believe him.

[boloa]

Cheap erectile dysfunction drugs,that should stiffen up the pricing competition

[StrontiumDog]

Thailand to sell generic Viagra drug | Bangkok Post: news

Thailand to sell generic Viagra drug

• Published: 26/09/2012 at 08:13 PM
• Online news: Local News

Thailand has approved an affordable generic version of the anti-impotence drug Viagra to go on sale next week, as the country looks to combat rampant counterfeit production, officials said Wednesday.


A customs officer shows counterfeited Viagra pills at Paris Roissy airport, in 2009. Thailand has approved an affordable generic version of the anti-impotence drug, as the country looks to combat rampant counterfeit production.

The Thai diamond-shaped little blue pill, which resembles the original produced by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is called "Sidegra" and will be available on prescription across the country on October 1.

Priced at 25 baht (80 US cents) per pill, Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it will be ten times cheaper than full-price Viagra.

"This measure will solve widespread production of fake drugs by increasing accessibility to the legal version," FDA secretary general Pipat Yingseree said in a statement.

The release said Pfizer had since looked to discount its pills by 30 percent to "cooperate with the government on curbing fake drugs".

"Pfizer is selling at a discount to be able to compete with our Sidegra," said an official at the state-run Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, which is producing the drug.

No one from Pfizer's offices in Thailand was available for comment.

An FDA official said the US company's patent to produce the anti-impotence drug had expired in Thailand.

Fake sex drugs are openly on sale on street stalls targeting tourists around the red light districts of the Thai capital.

In a raid on a Bangkok warehouse in July, Thai police seized several hundred thousand purported sex enhancement and aphrodisiac pills and a large haul of sex toys, worth an estimated $3.2 million.


-----
Viagra price cut by 20-30% | Bangkok Post: news

Viagra price cut by 20-30%

• Published: 26/09/2012 at 06:12 PM
• Online news: Local News

Stung by the launch of a cheap, locally made generic version of its anti-impotence drug, pharma-giant Pfizer has informed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) it will cut the price of Viagra.


Photo by Peerawat Jariyasombat

The company said it will reduce the retail price by 30% for 100mg pills and 20% for 50mg pills, FDA secretary-general Pipat Yingseri said on Wednesday.

He said the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) has applied for the registration of generic sildenafil, the main ingredient in Viagra, to treat impotence in men. The product has been registered with trademark Sildegra and is priced at 45 baht for 100mg tablets and 25 baht for 50mg pills.

Viagra is currently priced about 200 baht a pill in the market.

The generic product will be available from Oct 1.

Dr Pipat said the private and government sector were cooperating to increase access to the medication and he believed that once cheaper pills were available then fake pills would disappear from the market within five years.

GPO managing director Witit Artavatkun earlier said Sildegra underwent two years of research and experimentation, including a process called bio-equivalence, to ensure its quality and its effectiveness compared to the original Viagra.

Initially, the GPO will produce 200,000 packs of the drug with four tablets per pack, or a total of 800,000 pills, to test the market.

[Eliminator]

Sidegra can now be purchased at the Ministry of Public Health in seven locations around Thailand. As far as I know, these are the only places it is available. You have to go to their Dept. of Medical Service and then to the GPO Shop Drug Store. The closest to in Nonthaburi is in Nam Wong Wan area Ministry of Public Health.

Telephone# 02-590-6034 or 02-951-0925

You do have to have a prescription before you can get the pills so you have to see a doctor first. The prescription must have the code number for Controlled Substances. I don't know if there are doctors there or not, just call and ask.

[The Fresh Prince]

Does this mean it won't be in the water supply any more?

Sidegra can now be purchased at the Ministry of Public Health in seven locations around Thailand. As far as I know, these are the only places it is available. You have to go to their Dept. of Medical Service and then to the GPO Shop Drug Store. The closest to in Nonthaburi is in Nam Wong Wan area Ministry of Public Health. Telephone# 02-590-6034 or 02-951-0925 You do have to have a prescription before you can get the pills so you have to see a doctor first. The prescription must have the code number for Controlled Substances. I don't know if there are doctors there or not, just call and ask.

You sound like an expert!

[taxexile]

this is bad news for the hookers, who now risk being banged senseless by smelly old geezers with stiffys that just wont go down.

[Eliminator]

TFP, I have no idea what you're on about with the water supply BS, but I did call the GPO of Thailand to get the info.

I do hope this helps you.

[The Fresh Prince]

TFP, I have no idea what you're on about with the water supply BS, but I did call the GPO of Thailand to get the info.

I was only joking.

[kmart]

Apparently Pfizer still has a copyright on the formula for Viagra, so how the Thai Govt is getting around this I don't know.?
It's basically a recreational drug, not a life-saving medication.
Probably some Thai minister's little sideline given the green flag to go legal.

[weewillywinkie]

I bought Sidegra at a Sukhumvit pharmacy, can't remember price but dirt-cheap. It's obviously now generally available.