The Climbing Cost of Cialis - Price Has Increased 105% in Six Years

Friday, January 08 2010

January 8, 2009

By Brian Bujdos

Whoever built the economic structure in which big pharma resides forgot one important thing – the ceiling. And so, as the foundations of the American health care system are about to be uprooted , many consumers continue to be outraged at the skyrocketing costs of drugs.

In particular, the prices for many brand-name drugs that are still on patent seem to have soared rather inexplicably – almost a blatant pilfering of the pocket book. And if you think this trend has any chance of reversing itself, or even stabilizing, in the new health-care economy, au contraire mon frere.

If you’d like to build yourself to a slow boil, check out this comprehensive summary of how big pharma really works. Find out how your government turned an $80 billion bonus for Medicare beneficiaries into an unwaking nightmare that gives big pharma free reign to set drug prices indefinitely.

Viagra and Cialis Prices Rise Sharply

In September, an AccessRx.com blog entry reported that the price of Viagra rose more than 100% since it was introduced in 1998. Now we can report that Cialis has accomplished the same feat – but in only six years! What a curious concept that these two powerhouse erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs could mirror each other exactly in their fast-rising initiatives (their accounting ledgers).

Viagra, manufactured by Pfizer, was introduced in March of 1998 at a wholesale base cost of $7 per pill. Over the next eight years/through 2006, the price of Viagra increased a total of seven times to only $9.54 per pill, or 36%. However, since Jan. 1, 2007, the price of Viagra has increased from $10.02 to $16.20 per pill, or 70%. Price increases now take place about three times a year instead of once. Before 2008, no price increase was more than 7%. There have since been three 9% increases (including one on Jan. 1, 2010) and an 11% increase.

Cialis, manufactured by Lilly, was introduced in November of 2003 at a wholesale base cost of $8.10 – the exact price of Viagra at that time. Since then, Pfizer and Lilly have raised the cost of Viagra and Cialis at about the same rate. Since 2005, however, Cialis has been slightly more expensive than Viagra, with a maximum difference of $1.50 per pill. Currently, the wholesale base cost for Cialis is $16.67, or about 47 cents more per pill than Viagra. Since its introduction, the cost of Cialis has risen 105%.
No End In Sight for ED Drug Price Increases

Because Viagra’s patent expires in March of 2012, and presumably due to the fact that Pfizer is soon losing its patent on Lipitor (which grosses the company $12 billion annually), the company is in a mad scramble to make up the difference, or at least minimize its losses. Company layoffs have been rampant at Pfizer, as noted in the Huffington Post link above, and the company also bought Wyeth for $68 billion in order to diversify its business model.

That being said, what can truly justify the quickly inflating costs of Viagra and Cialis? Can it really cost that much more to produce a drug over time? Unlikely. And with the obvious pattern of Pfizer cutting costs at every corner, it is equally apparent they are raising costs at every chance. In fact the price increases have never been so rampant.

The Viagra patent expiration is equally devastating to Lilly because once the generic ED medications hit the market, Cialis also stands to lose significant market share. Currently, Viagra generates $1.9 billion in annual worldwide sales for Pfizer, and Cialis generates $1.5 billion in annual worldwide sales for Lilly. These two competing drugs control about 90 percent of the ED market (Levitra controls the other 10 percent), and Cialis has been gaining market share over the years on the once-king Viagra. Viagra online sales for this website make up about 60 percent of total for ED medications, while Cialis is at 40 percent and Levitra is at 10 percent.

Although the clock is quickly approaching the patent expiry for Viagra, there are still plenty of opportunities left for Pfizer and Lilly to raise their prices even higher on these drugs. And unfortunately for consumers who depend on the three FDA-approved ED medications, they have no alternative other than to stop using them, or to use them less frequently – not very inviting options.

Some men choose to take their chances with “generic” drugs from overseas. But not only are these medications illegal, the FDA has proven in tests that more than half of the counterfeit medications that enter into the U.S. are either ineffective or harmful. So this option is even less inviting.

There are literally tens of thousands of men who utilize Viagra, Cialis and Levitra on a regular basis in the U.S. All of these men stand to gain some big savings on ED pills on March 27, 2012 (the date of Viagra patent expiration). Check the AccessRx.com research section to find more information about what will happen when the Viagra patent expires and the drug goes generic.