RIYADH, 27 October — A Saudi firm seeking to register a new sex-stimulant drug and the agent for male anti-impotence Viagra pills in the Kingdom are locked in a battle over patent rights.
King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, which monitors patent rights, has asked the Health Ministry to reject the registration request for the Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries Co. (Dawaiya). The rejection is based on the fact that the company importing Viagra pills has patent rights for 20 years in Saudi Arabia.
Dawaiya’s General Manager Dr. Abdullah Al-Abdul Qader disputed the decision, however, saying the active chemicals in the new drug called “Sanafi” were not the monopoly of Viagra manufacturers.
Abdul Qader said Dawaiya has succeeded in using a different process to manufacture the new potency drug, which is already produced in many countries under different names. He warned that he would go to the Kingdom’s highest court to secure the registration.
Abdul Qader said Dawaiya manufactured the new medicine in a way quite different from that of Viagra. He also pointed out that many pharmaceutical companies were producing Viagra-like pills, with the same chemical composition.
Adel Al-Ruhaimy, director of Pfizer’s scientific office in the Kingdom, said his company registered Viagra pills at KACST in 1997 before registering it with the Health Ministry in 1999.
“There was delay in issuing patent rights because of a large number of applications,” he pointed out. “The registration of Viagra patent rights contains the effective potency chemical, so no other company can use it.”
Referring to production of Viagra-like pills in some countries, Ruhaimy said those countries do not have a system to protect patent rights.
Abdul Qader stressed that Pfizer does not have the right to prevent registration of a new medicine in the Kingdom, so long as they did not receive the patent for that medicine from KACST.
Ruhaimy pointed out that the American company has spent about $700 million on research to produce Viagra pills, adding that the company has to enjoy the full benefit to justify this research.
According to Abdul Qader, the basic chemical used in Viagra was first discovered in 1950 to treat heart disease. “Pfizer found that it could be used to treat impotency. This does not mean the chemical is a monopoly of the US firm,” he added.
But Ruhaimy claims the chemical was discovered only in 1993.
The Health Ministry authorized the sale of Viagra in 1999 on a prescription-only basis after approval from religious authorities, and following tests on Saudi men that produced 85 percent positive results.
