Sexual chemistry: Pfizer & the search for the new Viagra

17 January 2007

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Drug companies spend billions of pounds chasing “the next big thing” – the wonder pill that will change the world and earn millions for its creators. Viagra, discovered by chance by pharmacists seeking a treatment for angina, is just such a drug.

An over-the-counter version of Viagra will sell for less than prescription medicine; but its greater accessibility will boost revenues. While Pfizer's research chemists are continuing their quest for new outlets for Viagra, new delivery methods could be developed by specialists such as Novadel Pharma, based in New Jersey.

Novadel makes oral sprays that enable drug absorption through the oral mucosa and into the bloodstream. Novadel sources have told The Business that the company has researched a spray version of Viagra. While Novadel refuses to be drawn on the detail, it insists no product will come to the market in the near future and that no formal agreement has been signed with Pfizer.

Since our story last week, The Business has learnt that Novadel has made a patent application in the US for an oral spray formulation of various drugs including sildenafil, the active compound in Viagra. The application was filed in February 2005. Although the patent has yet to be granted, the move lends credence to our inside information that the company is researching the possibility of a Viagra spray.

With billions of pounds at stake, it is unsurprising that Pfizer is being coy about its plans to develop Viagra. However, with its research-and-development teams yielding little in the way of new blockbusters, it has a commercial imperative - indeed, a duty to its shareholders - to exploit existing products to their full potential. A widely-available Viagra is a sure-fire winner, if Pfizer can clear the inevitable regulatory hurdles.

Yet there is no excuse for the length of time it has taken Pfizer to wake up to the extra potential of its popular drug. It is indicative of a company in disarray. Pfizer's new boss needs to inject a new sense of urgency - and of competitive pride - into this vast yet unwieldy company.

Without it, Pfizer faces years of decline as sharper rivals steal a march. It would take more than a little blue pill to remedy that.