The long and difficult 13-year journey to the marketplace for Pfizer’s Viagra – Case Solution

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The long and difficult 13-year journey to the marketplace for Pfizer’s Viagra Case Answers

The long and difficult 13-year journey to the marketplace for Pfizer’s Viagra

From an analysis of the case study and further research, Pfizer’s Viagra was indeed the result of serendipity. The case study explores the long thirteen (13) years journey from laboratory to the market place and some of the challenges faced by Pfizer; most notably, project evaluation considerations, market penetration constraints in a situation where the available market research evidence suggested a small market for the product.

Viagra was something of an accidental discovery. The passage indicates that scientists testing an angina drug found that as a side effect, it seemed to cure impotence in many patients. Pfizer decided to focus on its unexpected benefit and to develop the product further as a cure for impotence.

Exact estimation of the market for such a drug was not clear. Survey results revealed that only 1 in 20 million men suffered from erectile dysfunction; hence even if a medicine could be developed the market would be very small. At the time, Pfizer had many drugs under consideration for the treatment of many other conditions such as colonic cancer, diabetes, asthma for which the markets were well known and understood.

The business cases for all these projects and others could easily be made. Accurate predictions could be made on the number of people who suffered from asthma and what customers would be willing to pay for such drugs. It was not possible to draw up an accurate business case for Viagra due to the uncertainness of the market and the condition. There simply was not a similar drug on the market with which to make a comparison. This made it even more difficult for R & D managers at Pfizer. It is for these reasons that it was to ensure marketing was involved in the early stages of this new product development project.

Difficulty in product evaluation

Despite enormous resources of Pfizer, lack of available information made the evaluation of the new product proposal so very difficult. The major uncertainties which remained with the business case included:

1. What is the size of the market? How many people suffer from ED?
2. Could the market for Viagra be bigger?
3. Could the market be made bigger?
4. The market for ED is not developed. Could it be developed and how?
5. Is it a growing market?
6. Is there an existing customer base (i.e. current sufferers)?
7. Is the potential big enough to warrant the investment?
8. Does it support Pfizer’s short-term and long-term plans for the business?

The above-mentioned uncertainties were mainly attributable to the fact that up to the mid-1990s impotence was considered a psychological condition and certainly not treatable with a drug. There was no market data available and there was no market for impotence drugs, such as Viagra. This complete transformation of viewing the condition as treatable with a pill revolutionized not only this sector of medicine but many others as well.

An excellent example of good marketing

As an example of excellent applied science, we see from the case how the authors explain that the scientists who discovered Viagra applied…