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Battle Looms Over Polish Imitation Viagra
06 October 2004
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.
is taking legal steps against Poland's largest drug maker for registering
an erectile dysfunction
drug with the same active ingredient as , officials of both companies
said Wednesday.
Polpharma registered its version, called Maxigra, this year, company spokesman Krzysztof Jakubiak said. He would not say when the impotence pills might be marketed.
Pfizer's Polish branch, Pfizer Polska, said that creating a generic version of the drug containing sildenafil, Viagra's main ingredient, is illegal before the patent runs out.
"We have already taken legal steps against producers of Maxigra," Pfizer Polska spokesman Adam Linka told The Associated Press.
"Viagra has been registered in the European Union and for 10 years a cheaper generic cannot be introduced in the EU."
He refused to give details on the legal action.
Poland, which joined the EU on May 1, could be a profitable market for Polpharma's product, given that Viagra costs about 50 zlotys (US$14; euro11.50) per pill in a formerly communist country where monthly wages average 2,200 zlotys (US$630; euro520).
Polpharma has been assured by experts that its actions are legal and that it is acting in good faith, Jakubiak said.
"Polish scientists used a new and different method for getting sildenafil," he told The AP.
source :-http://www.forbes.com | 
