Super-Pharm Ltd. and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE; LSE: PFZ) have set up a joint online venture to sell Viagra, in an effort to prevent sales of counterfeit versions of the erectile dysfunction treatment. Super-Pharm will sell Viagra via its website and deliver the pills to the buyer's home or other location for free.
Super-Pharm will dispense Viagra only to men with a valid prescription. Sales will be at a 9% discount on the list price: the price for a dose of four 25-mg tablets will cost NIS 209 instead of NIS 230.
Israel's erectile dysfunction treatment market has an estimated turnover of NIS 40 million a year. Viagra has a 43% share of the market, GlaxoSmithKline plc's (NYSE; LSE: GSK) Cialis has 37%, and Bayer AG's (DAX: BAYN) Levitra has 10%. Super-Pharm estimates that 800,000 tablets for the treatment of erectile dysfunction are sold every year in Israel.
Super-Pharm and Pfizer emphasize that the joint venture aims to fight purchases of counterfeit Viagra, which is common Israel, with most sales made online or by phone. Israel is one of the top ten countries in terms of counterfeit drugs. An estimated one in every 100 Israelis buys counterfeit drugs, either knowingly or innocently.
Super-Pharm COO Nitzan Lavi says, "The service gives customers the full assurance to buy the treatment discretely online and receive the real drug."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 13, 2011
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