*Paris: * Launched in the United States 20 years ago, Viagra has sold inthe billions and become an unexpected source of revenue for its makerPfizer, as well as copycats worldwide.
From its serendipitous discovery to its many counterfeit versions, here isa look back at how the world embraced the little blue pill that treatsimpotence.
* – Discovered by chance -*
At the start of the 1990s, teams at Pfizer experiment with a new drugcalled Sildenafil used to treat chest infections.
It proves powerless in calming thoracic pain brought on by such infections,but the drug has an unexpected side-effect on men: it causes an erection.
The majority of the male volunteers in the experiments also report asignificantly improved sex life.
Pfizer changes tack, focusing instead on researching male impotence, aproblem that affects a third of men over 40.
Up to this point the treatment for erectile disfunction has been poor: onlyimpractical and inefficient options exist, such as mini-suppositoriesinserted into the urethra or injections in the penis.
On March 27, 1998 the US Food and Drug Administration agency (FDA) givesthe green light for the new treatment and in April the little blue pillcalled Viagra hits US stores.
*- Overnight hit, global demand -*
Success is immediate: 150,000 prescriptions are written in the US in thefirst two weeks of the drug going on sale.
And even before its release outside the country, Viagra generates worldwideattention. It turns up on black markets in Israel, Poland and Saudi Arabiaat prices five times its legal US cost of around 10 dollars (eight euros).
After officially launching in Europe in September 1998, Viagra fast becomesa cash cow for Pfizer.
Sales worldwide rise more than 30 percent in 1999 and 2000, quickly leapingover the annual billion-dollar mark. It’s a surprise even for thepharmaceutical company, which had projected revenue of about 100 milliondollars a year.
*- Fakes everywhere -*
Ad campaigns by former US presidential candidate Bob Dole in 1999 andfootball legend Pele in 2002 boost the notoriety of the drug, which is saidto start having an effect about 27 minutes after ingestion.
Soon fakes start turning up, with counterfeit Viagra made in Thailand orIndia available online just a few weeks after it first went on the market.
The scammers realise the pill is a potential goldmine and Viagra quicklybecomes the most counterfeited drug. Seizures of fake pills at customsproliferate.
A Pfizer poll in 2011 shows 80 percent of Viagra randomly bought online isfake. The unlicenced versions can contain toxic products such aspesticides, plaster or ink for printers.
*- Not just for the bedroom -*
As fake versions of the drug spread, so too do alternative uses. A Britishstudy in 1999 shows a small but significant use of the pill among youngpartygoers.
And in 2012 a US study estimates that up to eight percent of youngAmericans use Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs, such as Cialis orLevitra, to aid sexual performance.
Generic forms of Viagra are made available in Europe from 2013, and in theUS from late 2017.
The drug is also experimented with in sports doping. However the WorldAnti-Doping Agency (WADA) decides not to add Viagra to its list of bannedsubstances: Sildenafil, it concludes, only has doping effects in highaltitude. – Agencies