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Viagra keeps Pfizer’s China sales rising

BEIJING — Chinese men have long used traditional medicines such as deer antler, caterpillar fungus and wolfberry to treat impotence. In recent years, Pfizer has found success touting a different remedy: Better sex via its little blue pill. Men on the mainland are listening, sparking a 47 per cent surge in Viagra sales in the country in 2014, says Pfizer, citing data from IMS Health.

Pfizer’s extensive patient-education campaign about erectile dysfunction has kept users loyal even though Viagra lost its patent protection last year and cheaper competitors have emerged. Photo: BLOOMBERG

Pfizer’s extensive patient-education campaign about erectile dysfunction has kept users loyal even though Viagra lost its patent protection last year and cheaper competitors have emerged. Photo: BLOOMBERG

BEIJING — Chinese men have long used traditional medicines such as deer antler, caterpillar fungus and wolfberry to treat impotence. In recent years, Pfizer has found success touting a different remedy: Better sex via its little blue pill. Men on the mainland are listening, sparking a 47 per cent surge in Viagra sales in the country in 2014, says Pfizer, citing data from IMS Health.

Shifting cultural trends brought on by China’s decade-long economic boom have fuelled demand, and Pfizer’s extensive patient-education campaign about erectile dysfunction (ED) has kept users loyal even though Viagra lost its patent protection last year and cheaper competitors have emerged.

As China has loosened restrictions on discussing sexual health, people have paid more attention to that aspect of their lives, says Mr Ma Xiaonian, a clinical sexologist and deputy director of the China Sexology Association. “When one is warm and well fed, one will think about lust,” says Mr Ma, quoting an ancient Chinese saying.

Since 2013, Pfizer has begun numerous ED education campaigns in China to raise awareness of the need for such medicines. Last year it sponsored a survey about the sexual health of more than 10,000 Chinese professionals, and the results were distributed in a publication called the China Ideal Sex Bluebook. The report, sprinkled with references and images of Viagra, provided advice and chronicled sexual trends.

Pfizer also sponsored a smartphone application that provides daily factoids and suggestions on male health and performance. Pfizer estimates that, in 2014, its educational efforts resulted in nine billion media impressions in China.

Such promotions would have been unthinkable a few decades ago, when discussing sexual matters was rare or even considered “spiritual pollution”. But Mr Ma says economic growth has brought lifestyle changes among Chinese men that are probably prompting the demand for sex drugs. Those changes and the lack of an exercise culture have led to a spike in the incidence of obesity, hypertension, diabetes and other diseases that can interfere with sexual performance, he says. Chinese nowadays “sit more, move less, exercise less, and have more bad habits. “And all these affect sexual abilities”.

Pfizer puts the prevalence of ED among Chinese men from 30 to 60 years of age at about 28 per cent, citing a large-scale epidemiological survey. That suggests the potential urban patient population for the drug could be about 68 million in China, where Viagra commands more than 60 per cent of the ED market, Pfizer says. That has made China a safe haven for Viagra, even though Eli Lilly’s Cialis surpassed it in worldwide sales in 2013.

Still, competition is intensifying. A generic ED drug was introduced by Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings in October. Baiyunshan, whose generic is called Golden Dagger-Ax, priced its product up to 60 per cent cheaper than the 130 yuan (S$28) per pill that Viagra goes for at one online pharmacy in China.

Baiyunshan is also trying to boost demand by conducting its own education programmes for patients and physicians, said Zhu Shaoxuan, manager at the company’s factory in Guangzhou. Analysts say, however, that Viagra has been able to maintain its big lead in China without cutting prices because many consumers have more confidence in foreign drugs. BLOOMBERG

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