In the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling rendering Pfizer Canada’s 1994 patent on Viagra invalid, the little blue pill is going to cost Canadians a little less green.
Pfizer today announced that it is lowering the price of its popular erectile dysfunction (ED) drug (to $37 from $49 for four 100 mg pills), bringing it in line with generic versions of the drug. Pfizer made a reported $80 million off Viagra in 2011 according to a report in The Globe and Mail.
“We’re doing this to empower patients to continue asking for the original brand they are used to and that they’ve known for 13 years,” said Julie-Catherine Racine, senior manager, corporate communications for Pfizer in Montreal.
The price drop is being promoted through a national English and French campaign created by Taxi that will run for several weeks. The media buy by MediaCom features daily newspapers, online, social media and PR.
Print ads feature an image of the famed blue pill accompanied by copy reading “A price you may lose sleep over” and “You’d better lie down for this.” All of the ads feature a message reading: “If it doesn’t say Pfizer, it’s not Viagra. Ask your pharmacist for the original.”
Pfizer also partnered with Toronto PR firm Strategic Objectives to create a 40-second YouTube video (“How do 6,500 Viagra pills say Good Morning?”) that uses time-lapse photography to show 6,500 Viagra pills coming together to form a happy face.
Thursday’s announcement comes in the wake of a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada that invalidates Pfizer’s patent on the ED drug, which was set to expire in 2014.
Teva, a Canadian manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals, argued that Pfizer had deliberately obscured the crucial role that the ingredient sildenafil played in the treatment of ED by filing multiple claims that made it unclear which active ingredient was successful in treating the condition.
In its ruling on Teva Canada Ltd. v. Pfizer Canada Inc., the Supreme Court said that Pfizer’s 1994 patent application failed to satisfy disclosure requirements set out in the Patent Act.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said: “The patent system is based on a ‘bargain’: The inventor is granted exclusive rights in a new and useful invention for a limited period in exchange for disclosure of the invention so that society can benefit from this knowledge. Sufficiency of disclosure lies at the very heart of the patent system, so adequate disclosure in the specification is a precondition for the granting of a patent.”
The ruling opens the door for Teva and other manufacturers to create their own Viagra-like drug after meeting Health Canada requirements.
