A Top-Selling ED Pill in Canada – Viagra. Who Is It for?

Erectile Dysfunction is a very common condition in patients all over the world. The prevalence of the problem is undeniable. Over 50% of men older than 40 experience erectile dysfunction issues to some degree. The impact of ED on the society is hard to underestimate. Many men all over the world can make a testimony on how hard they were hit when they started to experience their first issues with erection. While this is by no means a life-threatening condition, erectile dysfunction dramatically changes the way men perceive life and enjoy it.

No wonder that with the arrival of Viagra many things changed forever. Viagra is a very interesting drug with a very interesting history. Before we discuss why and who should use this medication, we must understand how it works.

What Is Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate)?

The main component of this worldwide famous drug is Sildenafil. This is one of the first discovered PDE5 inhibitors – the group of compounds that includes all similar drugs like tadalfil, vardenafil, avanafil, lodenafil, and many others. The list of PDE5 inhibitors can go for a long time. The vast majority of them can be used as ED treatment drugs. For many pharmacists ED drugs and PDE5 inhibitors are like synonyms.

Sildenafil was discovered many decades ago, but its clinical trials started in the end of 1980s. By that time, specialists who were studying it were not sure of its properties and theorized that the drug will be a good solution to treat various problems with pulmonary arterial hypertension and angina. The drug was relatively effective in terms of treating said health issues but its “side effect” was what made everyone interested. The drug was not a groundbreaking invention by any means and helped to achieve moderate improvements of condition in people with both pulmonary arterial hypertension and angina, but nearly all male patients also reported that their erection improved dramatically.

The follow-up studies revealed that sildenafil was extremely efficient at preserving cGMP from disassembling and allowed cavernous tissues in the penis to adsorb blood easier which made erection that much more achievable. Erection would be stronger and more controllable with an addition of sildenafil to the equation. The whole process of clinical trials for this drug was completely overhauled in order to test its potency as a drug against erectile dysfunction.

With the lack of drugs that could effectively and reliably address this problem in the market, Pfizer that was responsible for the very development of commercial brand of Viagra decided to focus its attention of sildenafil. The commercial potential of the drug was questionable at first, but the drug received a very loud marketing campaign that supported its initial arrival to the market in 1998. The following year was a year of triumph for American Company. Viagra immediately became the number one selling drug in America. The word of mouth did its job perfectly.

Viagra is a rare drug that actually has an extremely high success rate delivering improvements of sexual life to over 95% of patients who try it. The drug works to at least some degree for the vast majority of people with erectile dysfunction that has a strictly physiological nature. This drug is not designed to help with erectile dysfunction induced by psychological issues and depression.

Sildenafil was the reason why other companies started pushing their similar products to the market and created competition for Viagra that was ruling the pharmaceutical market for several years up until the point where Cialis (Tadalafil) started to compete on somewhat an even ground. However, the very brand of Viagra became a cultural phenomenon and started to be associated with any effective ED treatment. Moreover, many people don’t even know other drugs that could be as reliable as Viagra and this lack of knowledge is completely justified. In the end, Sildenafil is the drug. This is the solution that works in nearly 100% of the times, so why would you even try something else?

The Era of Generics

Pfizer lost its exclusive license in several countries namely in Brazil (2011) and UK. These countries are now officially producing high quality generic versions of the drug. At the same time, the whole world is enjoying much cheaper sildenafil based drugs that come from reliable pharmaceutical companies from Turkey, India, and China. These countries accommodate advanced pharmaceutical facilities while allowing them to produce goods for a low price which makes generics quite attractive from the financial of view.

Generic drugs are cheaper than their branded counterparts due to several distinct reasons:

1. Less marketing expenses. While many would be surprised, but the initial high price of Viagra is not due to how expensive it is to produce it, but rather due to the fact that Pfizer invested millions in marketing and advertising meaning that the final price of the product is significantly higher than what some may consider “fair”. Generic drugs do not have huge marketing campaigns behind their backs and thus can be priced much more loyally.
2. Less administrative expenses. Producing any type of goods in America is quite expensive. Administrative expenses in the states are higher compared to nearly any country in the world. High taxes for businesses, higher minimal wages, and many other factors significantly increase the price of the final product. Companies with manufacturing facilities in countries like India and Turkey have to spend lesser amounts of money on salaries and taxes and sell their goods for a much lower price.
3. More competition. Generic drugs do not have to compete with branded versions. However, they have to compete against each other. Due to the fact that branded drugs have large marketing campaigns to back them up, they are often out of the competition, but lesser products have to adjust their pricing models accordingly in order to be more attractive to their core audiences. This is why many generic drugs are priced democratically.

Sildenafil is not the most complicated compound in the world and can be synthesized quite easily. This means that many companies offer a high quality product for a much lower price. Sildenafil can be produced without dramatic investments in equipment and acquiring highly skilled specialists. This drug is relatively easy to produce and many manufacturers decided to try to get their cut of the pie. Today, you can purchase generic versions of Viagra in any country of the world. In the United States, the license of American Company will be expired in 2019, but the first official generic will be presented in the market in 2017 and will be produced by Vena.

Who Should Use Viagra?

The drug is very popular in many countries, including Canada. Viagra is a reliable solution for a problem that concerns over 20% of world’s male population. This means that the potential target audience of the drug is extremely wide. This medication is prescribed to all men with erectile dysfunction that has a physiological nature.

To determine whether you need a drug, you should consult your doctor. In some cases, using Viagra is justified even for men who do not need to treat ED but want to improve their sexual performance. While using Viagra without a distinct problem with erection, healthy men may try to include small dosages of the drug in order to improve their control over erection and exclude even the tiniest possibility of sexual failure.

When erectile dysfunction has a psychological root, you should consider treating the cause instead of a symptom. Erectile dysfunction can be only a slight manifestation of a much more concerning mental issue. Depression, sleep deprivation, and many other psychological, neurological, and psychiatric disorders can lead to ED. In such cases, using PDE5 inhibitors will not be efficient. Do not blame the lack of result on the drug and instead consider going through more tests and ask for a more detailed diagnosis.