Worldwide, Pfizer's Viagra has reported a loss of ca. $30 million, due to a 6% decrease of sales. Percentually, 14% of that decline occurred in international foreign currency, whereas 1% happened in the US. Viagra has been until now the ultimate growth product for Pfizer. It is common for the company to increase the price on a regular basis, normally twice a year, and as a result, perceived more gain per quarter.

As a consequence, this financial loss leads to a fundamental question: Has Viagra fully conquered the market, or has it lost its position against Cialis, developed by Eli Lilly (up 16% to $150 million in the second quarter)? Or even has it lost some ground to Levitra from Bayer?

Moreover, there are two important factors which complicate this issue: Firstly, even though Viagra has presented a sales decline lately, the other company's big product Revatio, a drug used for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension and based also on the same active ingredient as Viagra, has undergone a 18% increase in sales to a total of $111 million. Secondly, Viagra will become Generic Viagra in a few years due to the patent expiration, and Chinese drug manufacturers are already placing a huge amount of generic alternatives in the market.

A sales representative from Pfizer pointed out that the company will not disclosure any information regarding future plans of Viagra, whether they would keep marketing the brand drug or license it when the generic Viagra challenge starts. As a matter of fact, the company benefits from the alternatives when their drugs lose their patent. As with all of their medications, they continuously research on new alternatives for patients who have access to their brand drugs.

Pfizer's comment on generic business and its own brand branch, rises an important question: Is Pfizer possibly trying to get some sort of authorization from the FDA in order for pharmacies to be able to sell the medication without prescription as long as the physician ensures that the patient is not consuming any nitrates for hypertension, since the Viagra-nitrates combination can be fatal.