Viagra News (2005)

Fake Viagra Confiscated in China

Date: November 16, 2005

Fake Viagra pills were among a lot of other counterfeit products that were confiscated by the Chinese police in the past one year as reported by the Ministry of Public Security. Protection of intellectual property rights is an urgent task for China to improve its competitiveness in the world market and protect human rights.

In August, police in the northern city of Tianjin and Henan province in central China seized 440,000 fake tablets of the anti-impotence drug Viagra, made by the New York-based pharmaceutical giant,Pfizer. Some other fake erectile dysfunction drugs like Cialis, marketed by Lilly and ICOS Inc., a strong rival of Viagra were also confiscated. The pills had a value of more than 40 million yuan, the statement said. Eight Chinese and one American were arrested.

Counterfeiting of the products has resulted in a widening trade surplus for China, bringing down the value of U.S., European and Japanese sales in the country. The surplus swelled to $80.4 billion in the first 10 months of this year, from $11.1 billion a year ago.

Source: Bloomberg.com