Last week Pfizer UK was slapped with an eye-popping £2.3 million ($3.3 million) in fine for illegally promoting its own drug products in Nigeria, one of its biggest markets. The massive fine is likely to put a question-mark over the future of the country’s most popular online pharmacy, which specialises in selling generic drugs (drugs that are identical to brand name medications but at a fraction of the cost). It’s a big blow to the business, which saw a 111% rise in its annual revenue to £23.8 million ($32.9 million) between 2016 and 2017. The drugmaker also saw an 83% rise in its share value over the same period.
The Nigerian markets are massive. According to the World Bank, the country’s GDP was £235.9 billion in 2017 and its population is around 182 million, making it the seventh-largest economy in all of Africa. The city of London had a significantly larger GDP than the Nigerian capital, Abuja, in 2017.
The fine comes as no great surprise to industry experts. According to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), between April 2016 and March 2018, the value of the drugs sold online to customers in Nigeria was £22.65 million ($29.67 million).
The majority of these drug sales were made by Pfizer UK, which is hardly a secret. Between January 2016 and March 2018 alone, the company’s Nigerian operation saw 855,400 units of sildenafil sold, a popular prescription drug that treats erectile dysfunction and is usually available on the market for £17.99 per tablet (at the time of writing).
The company’s 2017 Annual Report noted that the business had seen “a notable increase in the number of Nigerian and other international patients accessing our products and services online”, adding that the firm conducted 73.9 million transactions in the country in the previous year. If you exclude the UK from these figures, the number of transactions conducted in Nigeria jumps to 121.9 million. (Pfizer UK)
Nigerian Online Pharmacy Businesses Face Shutdown
This isn’t the first time that an online pharmacy business in Nigeria has had to close down. In fact, since 2015, there have been at least 24 arrests and/or shut down of online pharmacies operating in the country.
The most recent high-profile example is that of Folio, one of the country’s largest online pharmacy businesses, which was raided by the government in May 2018. The company had offered services to over 120,000 customers across Nigeria and had a virtual monopoly on the country’s online pharmacy market.
During the raid, officials reportedly seized 23,000 units of sildenafil, which is the generic equivalent of Viagra, as well as other pharmaceuticals and a significant amount of money from the site’s bank accounts. The company’s managing director, Femi Kuti, was arrested and charged with 14 counts of illegally supplying drugs and other unlicensed commodities. Although she has since been granted bail, the raid has undoubtedly cast a dark shadow over her business. (Kutobi)
Folio wasn’t the only large online pharmacy business to suffer from unsustainable expansion in Nigeria. Between 2014 and 2016, at least eight other companies launched in the market, attracted by the country’s vast and increasingly wealthy population.
Nigeria is also one of the world’s biggest markets for traditional medicine, with over 80% of the population reportedly using medicinal herbs and spices to treat disease.
What’s more is that the country’s health system is incredibly under-funded and overworked. As a result, a large portion of the population either doesn’t seek modern medical treatment or relies on buying medicines from online pharmacies.
In the country, access to healthcare is limited and many people can’t afford the cost of medicines. According to the 2017 Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 23% of Nigerians aged 18 to 24 didn’t know how much their medication cost, while 24% of those aged 25 to 49 and 30% of those aged 50 to 64 didn’t know how much their medication cost. (The Tobacco Atlas)
As a result, many people in the country are turning to cheaper and more accessible alternatives, namely, the grey and black markets. In a world of dwindling numbers, there will always be a demand for drugs like Viagra, especially in emerging markets with ageing populations, like Japan and South Korea.
Why You Shouldn’t Buy Viagra From Pfizer UK Even If You Are In Nigeria
Apart from the fact that Pfizer UK was slapped with a hefty fine for marketing its products in Nigeria, there are a number of reasons why you shouldn’t buy Viagra from the company even if you are in the country. First, the quality of the drug can vary significantly, depending on where you buy it and what manufacturing process it went through. (Read our in-depth article on the differences between various brands of Viagra here).
Second, the effectiveness of the drug can also vary by country. Though the medication generally works well across the world, in some countries it can be less effective. For example, in 2015 a Japanese team of researchers found that sildenafil was more effective in treating sexual dysfunction in men when it was sold as an unbranded generic medication. They also found that when the same drug was sold under a brand name, its effectiveness was significantly decreased.
According to the World Health Organization, the major difference between branded and unbranded drugs is that the former usually have had more clinical trials and be more effective. Unfortunately, this doesn’t necessarily mean that generics are inferior – it often just means that they haven’t been tested or approved for use in a specific country.
The third reason why you shouldn’t buy Viagra from Pfizer UK even if you are in Nigeria is that there are plenty of trusted online pharmacies that you can buy the medication from. As we’ve established, since 2015 at least 24 arrests and/or shutdowns of online pharmacies have taken place in the country. So you can be rest assured that even if Pfizer UK was an established business, with all of its practices legal and above board, you would still be able to buy Viagra anonymously from a trustworthy source.
The final reason why you shouldn’t buy Viagra from Pfizer UK even if you are in Nigeria is that in some countries, including the UK, it’s a crime to purchase or consume an unapproved drug. Though this law isn’t directly applicable to consumers, pharmacists who manufacture and sell the medication could be prosecuted. So if you’re caught buying a drug that you believe to be illegitimate, you could find yourself in a very dangerous situation. Though this situation may be unlikely, it’s still a risk you have to take.
Avoiding Trouble In The Country
If you’re visiting Nigeria anyway, it’s worth avoiding buying medications from Pfizer UK. Though this may be difficult if you’re already there, especially if you’re planning on travelling to another country, you can contact the country’s regulatory body to confirm whether or not Pfizer UK is licensed to operate in Nigeria. If it is, then there’s no legal recourse for you other than to contact the company and ask them to cease and desist with their activities.
In most situations, when a business acts illegally, the regulator will step in and stop them. However, this is usually only after an industry-wide investigation and enforcement action, which can take time. While you wait for the situation to resolve itself, it’s not a great idea to purchase medication from an unlicensed source, especially when there are plenty of trusted and legal online pharmacies that carry the exact same products.