Some Stiff
Competition for Viagra
August 08,
2003
Viagra challenger Eli Lilly this
week launched an erection drug which, it claims,
lasts much longer than its famous competitor.
Lilly launched
Cialis in South Africa this week, trumpeting
its drug as a winner in its first three months
in Europe and the Antipodes.
Cialis's unique selling point is that it remains
active for 36 hours, far longer than Viagra.
"We've discovered it has an incredible
appeal to women," says Christopher Whitfield,
CEO for the South African arm of Lilly.
"Cialis says: 'Don't hurry the situation,'
so women love it," he adds.
The US-based Lilly, known mostly known for
its anti-depression drug Prozac, now has more
than 30% of the potency market in Europe and
the UK. In Australia it has taken 42%.
The drug's launch was held up in the US by
six months as authorities requested more information
about it. Pfizer-made Viagra was launched in
South Africa in March 1999 and has a local market
share of 95%.
For Lilly, which had a $12-billion turnover
last year, there is no need to take on the world's
biggest pharmaceutical firm, says Whitfield.
The market is potentially so large that growth
is expected to come from targeting men who are
too embarrassed to seek help.
Only 15% of men who suffer from erectile
dysfunction seek help, so Lilly sees plenty
of room to grow by targeting men, women, doctors
and nurses.
A Western Cape study has revealed that seven
out of 10 men of the average age of 48 report
problems with erections, says urologist Dr David
Smart.
Studies in the US estimate that 30% to 52%
of men aged 40 to 70 suffer similar problems.
John Kearney, CEO of Pfizer SA, said this
week the company welcomed competition as it
encouraged innovative new medicine and benefited
patients and physicians through increased awareness
campaigns.
Doctors and patients would use a product because
it was safe and effective, Kearney said, and
not because it stayed in a person's body longer.
Last year, Pfizer posted $32-billion in revenue
worldwide.
In the highly competitive pharmaceuticals
world, there is big money at stake.
It took Lilly 10 years and close to $1-billion
to develop Cialis - not to mention the contenders
that did not make it to market.
The intention is clear - Lilly wants to make
Cialis
as famous as Prozac. The local marketing campaign
begins this week. Regulations prohibit the company
from marketing directly to the public.
Like Pfizer, which enlisted soccer legend
Pele in its campaign, Lilly's ads will be broadly
about erectile dysfunction.
source:-http://www.sundaytimes.co.za
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