sombreroloco Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 http://money.aol.co....umble-in-price/ If you're about to buy some of those little blue pills, hold off: the price of Viagra is about to soften dramatically [nice pun eh?]. That's because the UK patent for the erectile dysfunction drug, made by Pfizer, is up from today.There are a host of copycat erectile dysfunction versions selling from 80p a pop - the price Viagra could now flop to. What's up? The loss of Pfizer's patent protection means rival operators can churn out generic versions of the blockbuster drug under its original chemical name, sildenafil. A new price tumble - Viagra has in the past sold for £10 a pill - looks inevitable, though Pfizer has still got the US market, with patent protection extended there to 2020. Pfizer will now launch a cut-price UK version - Sildenafil Pfizer - to cling to its market share this side of the Atlantic. The Viagra patent cut-off should save the NHS a load of prescription cash too (between 2011 and 2012 it's thought there were 1m plus UK prescriptions). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patfig Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 hard to swallow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Apple Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Why should the NHS be providing prescriptions for Viagra? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Why should the NHS be providing prescriptions for Viagra? Because some people have medical reasons for failing to get an erection? What's cheaper allowing someone to have sex or treat depression? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Deflation Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Shouldn't be available on NHS. Sex is not a right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowflux Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Shouldn't be available on NHS. Sex is not a right. I dunno about a right, but being able to have sex is pretty important to most people. Personally, I'd rather, say, lose a foot that lose the ability to have sex, but I wouldn't claim that gangrene shouldn't be treated on the NHS. Edit: ccc would probably agree with me on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spord Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Shouldn't be available on NHS. Sex is not a right. I'd argue it's a pretty fundamental requirement actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 I dunno about a right, but being able to have sex is pretty important to most people. Personally, I'd rather, say, lose a foot that lose the ability to have sex, but I wouldn't claim that gangrene shouldn't be treated on the NHS. Edit: ccc would probably agree with me on this one. To be honest i would give up sex rather than a foot without a thought. That said if someone is getting depressed from the inability to have sex ? Then yes a wee pill on the NHS is no big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Uttley Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Shouldn't be available on NHS. Sex is not a right. It's only the drug that's available on the NHS. You still have to provide your own girlfriend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepwello'nights Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 It's only the drug that's available on the NHS. You still have to provide your own girlfriend. This is HPC, you can always rent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sombreroloco Posted June 23, 2013 Author Share Posted June 23, 2013 60p 'Viagra' price war: As patent ends, companies queue up to sell copycat version of impotence drug http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2345878/Countdown-cheap-Viagra-From-midnight-tonight-drug-available-little-60p-tablet.html A cut-price battle for the £1.5billion market in Viagra begins today after the impotence drug’s patent expired at midnight last night. With prices predicted to tumble quickly to as little as a tenth of the current rate, men in need of a boost in the bedroom could be able to obtain the little blue pills for as little as 60p each. Until now, those who do not qualify for an NHS prescription have faced paying up to £6 per tablet. But while expiration of the patent will make the drug more affordable, it will not make it more easily available, because men will still need a prescription –private or NHS – to get it. Around a dozen companies are expected to market generic, or non-branded, versions of the impotence drug from today. And at least ten more have also made tablets and have permission to sell them. Pfizer, which developed Viagra at its plant in Sandwich in Kent, has held the patent since 1990 and sold the drug at a price that allowed it to recoup the money spent on development. Worldwide, sales are worth almost £1.5billion a year. It will be launching a non-branded version today. Among its competitors will be Teva, a manufacturer of generic medicines that is the biggest supplier of drugs to the NHS and whose products range from cold treatments to cancer drugs. A spokesman for the West Yorkshire-based firm said: ‘We fight cat and dog with other companies to be the first on the market when a patent expires.’ Viagra is a blue, diamond-shaped pill and while the copycats will come in different shapes, sizes and colours they will all contain the same active ingredient – a substance called sildenafil. Most will simply be marketed under that name after satisfying drug regulators that they work as well as the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecrashingisles Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Does this mean the end of Viagra spam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guillotine Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Things are looking up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eight Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Does this mean the end of Viagra spam? I've started getting spam saying "Casino for winners ONLY!!!!!!" Clearly they haven't thought much about the consequences of running a casino for winners only. I reckon it might be a bit dodgy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 It's only the drug that's available on the NHS. You still have to provide your own girlfriend. Or hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecrashingisles Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 I've started getting spam saying "Casino for winners ONLY!!!!!!" Clearly they haven't thought much about the consequences of running a casino for winners only. I reckon it might be a bit dodgy. I suspect it would have turned out to be an advert for Help To Buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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