It has been almost twelve years since the drug company Pfizer announced in 1998 that, following years of meticulous and intensely scrutinised trials, the impotence treatment Viagra had been approved to go on sale.
Since then the ‘little blue pill’ has raked in billions of pounds in profits every year for the company. It has become one of the most widely known medications every made – in America, a massive 99% of the adult population know what it does.
Crucially, it has helped millions of men to save their sex lives, and rescued countless flagging relationships in the process.
The development process
It took over 13 years to bring Viagra from conception to production.
In 1985, when the medication was nothing more than an idea, scientists began to screen over 1,500 chemical compounds, and spent budgets of £600 million every year in order to develop it.
And yet at this point it was not even intended to be an erectile dysfunction treatment. Instead, it was being heralded as a possible treatment for angina. It was not until 1993 that tests began to see whether Viagra could be used to treat erectile dysfunction.
After extensive trials the drug went onto the market in 1998. After just six months, it was being reported that profits had exceeded £338 million, and in the UK, the NHS placed a temporary ban on NHS prescriptions of Viagra amidst fears that demand was so high, prescriptions could drain the NHS of resources.
Fast-forward to the present day, and Viagra has completely altered the medical landscape. It makes profits of around 3 billion pounds each year. The Viagra alternative Cialis, which is not produced by Pfizer, is also massively popular.
The future
Despite alternative treatments that are available, Viagra remains the most popular erectile dysfunction drug on the market.
It is a household name and when a man becomes affected by impotence – and 30% are – it is likely that Viagra will be the first medication they seek out.
There is even growing evidence that it can be used to treat other conditions, too. For instance in one case, Viagra was used to successfully treat pulmonary hypertension, in a young American girl called Genevieve Hernandez. Doctors prescribed her a dose of liquid Viagra in order to open up her blood vessels, instead of carrying out lung surgery.
As we roll into a new decade, it will fascinating to see how the history of this landmark drug continues to develop.
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