The year 1998 saw the introduction of a pill many men considered very effective in their fight in treating erectile dysfunction. The pill, Viagra rendered the much awaited hope for couples who were fraught with the sexual problem. As the very first drug introduced to treat erectile dysfunction the medication did the task with aplomb and the men affected by erectile dysfunction felt they need not brood desolately about the problem anymore or find it very embarrassing to open up on their sexual health with medical professionals. The medication is an oral therapy and has turned around the faint thoughts that there won’t be any cure at sight and has helped in bringing back the sexual vigor they once enjoyed in their prime.
The Patency of Medications
Pfizer introduced Viagra into the market and it continued to hold the patent rights for the medication and when a company holds the rights, others cannot manufacture the generic equivalent of the medication until the expiry of the patent rights. The recent years has seen a flood of generic counterparts of Viagra, namely Kamagra, Penegra trying to have foothold in the market. As Viagra is in great demand all over the world, many companies try to manufacture a generic equivalent of the medication.
Price – Brand Vs Generic
Since any pharmaceutical company which introduces a pill in the market invests heavily in the preceding years for doing intensive research on the medication, they need to recover the costs incurred towards making the drug. This necessity to recover the investment made to innovate the medication ideally translates to the pills being priced at a premium. When it is the turn of the manufacturers selling the generic version they need not bear the hefty expenditure for research. The producers of generic version are also endowed with the advantage of knowledge on the layer of population which is need of the drug, their usage pattern, their dosage preference, a comprehensive study done prior to the launch of the branded version. By riding on the established status of Viagra, the manufacturers of generic versions can easily sell it to the people at a price far lesser than the branded as they would have never incurred most of the cost overheads as in the case of branded medication.
Which to buy?
The generic version of Viagra has the identical chemical component of Sildenafil Citrate that is present in the brand Viagra. The important factors like the dosage of the medication, degree of performance, signs, contraindications, purity of constituent substances, quality and the nature of usage are similar for both the branded and generic versions of Viagra. The process followed in the manufacture of generic version also absolutely adheres with the International laws and specifications and possesses the approval of regulatory bodies in the health sector like FDA and WHO. The fundamental variance is visible in the appearance and the cost of the medication. Both the versions consist of nearly the same chemical combination except for the appearance and there is no much difference over the performance of both, a factor that can be a concern to many of the users. The brand Viagra is almost thrice the cost of generic Viagra, so it is for the user of the pill to finalize which version to buy for them.
