Profiling Generic and Brand Name Viagra.

According to medicine, impotence or erectile dysfunction (ED) occurs when a man consistently loses his ability to achieve or sustain a firm erection that is long enough to sexually penetrate a partner. Known to be a predominant affliction of the older people, erectile dysfunction is a common problem which can, however, affect any age group.

Though an occasional inability to have an erection is not normally seen as much of a cause for concern, when this becomes consistent, it could become a source of great emotional distress and adversely affect a relationship.

Viewed as either a psychological problem or a natural consequence of growing older, erectile dysfunction was once generally considered a taboo subject in former times. However, better understanding of the condition and recent changes have brought about a change in the attitude of people towards ED.

Common treatment for ED in the 1980s included penile injections of some drugs like Prostaglandin E1, some traditional drugs with aphrodisiac properties, topical or oral drugs, etc, and all of these drugs were not popular because they either inconvenient to the patients or their interactions with other drugs and side effects were not well understood by physicians.

In 1998, however, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved Sildenafil Citrate, a drug produced by Pfizer, Inc., and marketed under the brand name Viagra, as the first oral treatment for ED. Since becoming available in the market, Viagra tablets have brought about a sea change in the treatment of ED. Not only are a large number of people coming forward to get treatment for their ED, the willingness of doctors to prescribe the drugs means has seen millions of Viagra tablets being dispensed.

This has concomitantly resulted in pharmaceutical companies all over the world committing large amount of money into extensive researches and studies on developing oral treatment for ED that would rival Viagra. The most notable oral drugs that have been recently introduced into the ED market are Cialis and Levitra. Other drugs that have also swelled the rank of drugs in the ED market, but which are less notable than Cialis and Levitra, are the generic Viagra.

What makes ‘generic Viagra’ different from ‘branded Viagra’?

The major difference between generic Viagra and branded Viagra is in the name. While branded Viagra is the registered trademark of its maker, generic Viagra can only be marketed using various generic names of Viagra. The use of the brand name by any generic Viagra manufacturer would be seen as infringing on the right to exclusively use the name by Pfizer, the original inventor of brand Viagra.

However, this exclusivity is only limited to the name, as the original inventor of a pharmaceutical can not have patent for a certain chemical agent. Hence, both generic and brand Viagra have the same active ingredients – Sildenafil citrate.

Which Viagra is more preferable?
Basically, generic and brand Viagra contain the same active chemical ingredient. However, different factors such as ease of availability and price have brought about different customers’ response to the two products. For instance, the enormous amount of money invested by Pfizer, inc., into the research on the brand Viagra and its advertisement means that the overhead cost of brand Viagra is high, thereby making the product a bit prohibitive in some quarters. Conversely, the different manufacturers of generic Viagra do not have to spend money on the formulation of their generic product and also on advertisement, thus making their Viagra tablets cheap and more attractive to those who want to buy Viagra tablets cheap.

In addition, brand Viagra tablets are available as prescription drugs and generic Viagra can be bought online by those who want to buy Viagra tablets online with no prescription.