V-day
Today is the tenth anniversary of the little purple pill. Although I personally think that big pharmaceuticals should spend more time trying to cure diseases that are part of the scourge of poverty (like malaria and TB), it is noteworthy that one of the biggest money spinners over the past decade has been Viagra – the erectile dysfunction pill developed by Pfizer.
Viagra is one the best case studies for what companies must do to benefit from the ageing Boomer generation. As the generation born after World War II, who came of age in the swinging 60s, they were never going to be coy about sex, and certainly did not want a mere biological issue like “getting old” stand in the way of their preferred lifestyle. They are a generation that believes in choice – their choice! So, medicines that deal with hair loss, sagging skin, sexual slowdown and other age-related conditions were always going to be successful. Pfizer got there first. Others have – and will continue to – follow.
The Boomers are the “youngest”, healthiest, richest and most powerful retiring generation of all time.
If you’re interested, the blockbuster drug (it had $1.7 billion in sales in 2007) was what Pfizer set out to create. In the 1980s, Pfizer scientists in Sandwich, England, theorized that blocking an enzyme called PDE5 could expand blood vessels and treat angina caused by reduced blood flow to the heart. They began testing a drug that could do this on volunteers in the 1990s. But the drug had a short life and volunteers needed to take the medication three times each day to be effective. This caused side effects, such as muscle aches, and …. unexpected erections. Pfizer switched tracks. The company began testing the drug specifically on men with erectile dysfunction. The rest, as they say, is history.
On 27 March 2998, the FDA approved the drug for general release, and the revolution began. Over 35 million men have used it to date!
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