hankyoreh

By Cho Ki-won

The market for erectile dysfunction medicine is grows rapidly and a variety of attempts are being made to change the form of remedies and make them easier to take. 　

CJ CheilJedang plans to release a generic product containing sildenafil, Viagra’s active ingredient, in pills and granules in May of this year. The granules can be taken without water. “The granule version has the advantage that it can be taken easily and is absorbed quickly by the body,” the company explained.

Also in May, Daewoong Pharmaceuticals is due to release a generic product in pill form, before launching it in the form of chewable tablets in December. In the same month, Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical is due to launch its own generic version of the medicine in the form of a film that sticks to the tongue. Both companies explained that they had changed the form of their products to make taking them more convenient.

Industry officials say that at least 20 firms plan to launch generic versions of Pfizer’s Viagra once the patent for sildenafil, the product’s active ingredient, expires in May. Pfizer claims that the patent for sildenafil when used as an ingredient in medicine to treat erectile dysfunction is valid until 2014. Korean firms preparing generic versions, however, believe the period of validity ends this May. In May last year, CJ CheilJedang applied to the Korean Intellectual Property Office to have the patent on use of sildenafil ruled invalid.

Pharmaceutical companies, stimulated by the success of SK Chemical’s new film-form product Embix S, have begun diversifying ways of taking their products. When first launched, in 2006, Embix S was sold in tablet form, but has enjoyed an explosion in popularity since changing to a film form that melts on the tongue without water, at the end of last year. Having previously registered annual sales of below 5 billion won ($4.4 billion), 1 billion won worth of the drug was sold in the space of just two weeks after being released in film form. Analysis by SK Chemical suggests that while the film-form version is more convenient, customers are drawn to the fact that it is less conspicuous.

The Korean market for erectile dysfunction remedies grew from 77 billion won in 2007 to 97 billion in 2010, and is estimated to have exceeded 100 billion last year. The street price of genuine Viagra is 15,000 won per 100mg tablet, but generic versions are expected to cost no more than 10,000.

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