Viagra Price Drops 50% as Drug Faces Competition

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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Viagra Price Drops 50% as Drug Faces Competition

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Viagra, the wildly successful erectile dysfunction pill, faces challenges from a generic version that will launch next year, and direct competitors Levitra and Cialis. In the face of these, Viagra has started a promotion that offers 50% off a patient’s next three prescriptions.

The offer does come with some fine print:

In order to redeem this savings offer, you will need a prescription for VIAGRA from your doctor. You can redeem your savings offer at your local or preferred online pharmacy. Or, if you already have a prescription, you can redeem this offer today through VIAGRA home delivery. With VIAGRA home delivery, you get the convenience and privacy of ordering from your home.

The home delivery part is certainly a plus.

[nativounit]

In March, the mammoth generic drug company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) got approval to market a generic version of Viagra. Teva already had FDA approval of its product. Due to a deal between Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Teva, the product will not come on market until the end of 2017. That leaves only 18 months for Pfizer to sell Viagra without generic competition. After that, it faces the Teva drug, which almost certainly will have a lower price.

The siege of Viagra has already started. Cialis is marketed by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY). Promotions for the drug are also aggressive:

With the CIALIS Savings Card, eligible patients receive $200 off the cost of their prescription(s) for a 30-day supply of CIALIS.

Savings Card is for new patients only. If you used a Savings Card or a 30-Day Free Trial Offer in the past, you are not eligible to use the Savings Card. Only one Savings Card per person may be redeemed.

That’s a shame for loyal customers who have used Cialis for some time and are now being shunned.

Levitra is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK), another drug behemoth. Levitra also offers discounts, but these only some after answering a questionnaire, a hurdle that probably makes the promotion less attractive.

Viagra for 50% off. Take it while it lasts.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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