Flagging sales signal hard times for Viagra

Few products have won the kind of notoriety enjoyed by Viagra, the first erectile dysfunction (ED) medication to come to market back in 1998.

Within two years, Pfizer's Viagra had entered the popular lexicon, becoming the common generic name for ED pills. Wall Street analysts predicted that Viagra would be a US$4.5 billion brand by 2004. Things haven't quite worked out that way. For five years, Viagra enjoyed an open field, but when competitors Levitra (Schering-Plough, GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer) and then Cialis (Eli Lilly) came on the scene in late 2003 and 2004 respectively, it was all-out war, with advertising budgets ballooning to Titanic size.

Last year, the three brands combined spent 37 per cent of their sales on ads, according to TNS Media Intelligence. By comparison, Ford Motor Company spent just seven per cent of US automotive revenue on media. Despite that, all three brands are performing below expectations and Viagra has taken a nose dive.

Cialis' USP is that it has a 36-hour efficacy period, a distinction that has the French dubbing it 'le weekender'. Viagra and Levitra are effective for only four hours. Not satisfied with second place, Cialis is now challenging Viagra head-on.

Drugs for ED are a $2.6 billion market in the US alone. Viagra leads with 70 per cent, Cialis has 19 per cent, and Levitra has the rest. Last year, Viagra's worldwide sales fell 11 per cent. At $1.7 billion, that's less than half of what was projected by Wall Street.

Earlier this month, Eli Lilly began offering US consumers vouchers for three free Cialis tablets from its website. After filling the first free prescription, men are offered three more tablets, Cialis or the competing ED drug of their choice. The campaign could erode Viagra's lead even further. With sales of all three brands lower than expected, there's ample room for growth. It is estimated that less than 15 per cent of men suffering from ED have tried any of the drugs. At a time when Viagra should be focused on expanding market share, the brand is scrambling to stem the loss of current customers.