Different But The Same

By Author: Steven Johnson
Total Articles: 490
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As well as being responsible for the development of fries, the French have said some memorable things. One of the best known is, "even though things change, they actually stay the same". So, when it comes to drugs, the basic chemistry for the active ingredients stays the same but you might be able to buy it as a tablet, a capsule, a liquid you drink, a patch you stick on your skin, a gel you rub on the affected part, and so on. The reasons for all these changes are fairly obvious. People are different. Some find it hard to swallow pills but easily manage when the drug is supplied as a liquid. This can either be drunk on its own or mixed into juice or some thing else to hide the taste. Then there's the question of the speed with which relief might arrive at the affected area. If you take a pill, it may take time for the tablet to dissolve in your stomach, be absorbed into the bloodstream and then work its way round in sufficient concentration to be effective where needed. How much quicker it is to place a pad or rub on a topical gel or cream. Now the active chemicals are absorbed through the skin at just the place you want the ...
... relief.

When it comes to the erectile dysfunction drugs, there have been experiments using gels and topical creams. But, for some reason, the participants in the trials have not expressed any great enthusiasm for bringing this to the market. Why should the manufacturers be so keen to pursue change? They have reliable products. The usual rule is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Well, the latest answer comes from Pfizer's marketing manager in Mexico. It seems about 60% of Mexican men either pound the tablets into dust or break up the capsules. They say it's easier to digest. In fact, it inevitably speeds up the process since the men don't have to wait for the stomach acids to break down the tablets or melt the plastic of the capsules. Why produce something different for the Mexican market? Well, it's the second largest market for ED drugs in Latin America. So here comes a gum. All you need do is chew and await results.

More generally, innovation is hard to keep in its box and there are new formats on the way. There's a new melt-in-the-mouth tablet that fizzes (sadly not produced by Pfizer to make the pun effective) as it dissolves on the tongue. This is a very discreet way of taking the drug and available in many markets around the world. So don't imagine you have been forgotten. Pfizer is going to lose its patent protection for Viagra in 2012 and, in addition to the other two patented competitors, the cheap generics will flood the market. If Viagra is going to maintain its dominant position in the US, it will have to continue developing different ways of selling itself to you. As the Chinese were known to say, we live in interesting times and, as competition develops, we could be the winners as the price drops.