中國藥廠獲准製造國產"偉哥"

A Chinese pharmaceutical company has received the green light from China’s State Food and Drug Administration to become the country’s first official producer of a homegrown version of Viagra, Pfizer’s famous erectile dysfunction drug.

一家中國製藥公司已得到國家食品藥品監督管理局批准，成爲國內首家正式生產國產版本萬艾可(Viagra)的廠家，萬艾可是輝瑞公司(Pfizer)治療勃起功能障礙的著名藥物。

Pfizer’s patent on Viagra expired in China in May, following patent expirations in several European countries and elsewhere that are expected to undercut profits for the American pharmaceutical giant as cheaper alternatives are rolled out.

輝瑞公司的萬艾可專利已於五月在中國到期，公司在幾個歐洲國家和其他地區的專利此前也已陸續到期，預計隨着便宜替代品的推出，這個美國製藥業巨頭的利潤將受到侵蝕。

Since May, Chinese companies have been vying with one another to emerge as the dominant player in the new market for generic versions of the pill. In the early stages of the competition, Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical appears to have emerged triumphant.

五月份以來，幾家中國企業一直在這個非專利藥的新市場上相互爭奪主導地位。在競爭的早期階段，廣州白雲山製藥總廠似乎勝出。

After years of behind-the-scenes preparation, the company last week received the state production license that will allow it to start churning out sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient in Viagra. Guangzhou Baiyunshan, a subsidiary of the larger Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited, began developing its product in the 1990s, but had to hold off in 2003 when it was unable to get a production license because of the Pfizer patent, Nanfang Daily reported.

經過多年的幕後準備工作，該公司上週獲得了國家許可，將允許其開始批量生產枸櫞酸西地那非，即萬艾可的活性成分。據《南方日報》報道，廣州白雲山是更大的廣州醫藥集團有限公司的下屬公司，自20世紀90年代起就在研發自己的產品，但不得不在2003年推遲生產，因爲輝瑞的專利，白雲山沒有得到生產許可。

Chinese companies have spent the better part of two decades lying in wait for Pfizer’s patent to expire because profits in China’s erectile dysfunction drug sector are enormous and only expected to grow.

在輝瑞公司的專利到期前的20年裏，中國公司一直在虎視眈眈地等待着，因爲中國的勃起功能障礙藥物市場的利潤巨大，而且預計只會增長。

The “Investigation Report on China Sildenafil Market, 2009-2018” put out by China Market Research Reports estimates that more than 50 million men in China suffer from sexual dysfunction. The demand for a remedy is expected to rise along with the aging of China’s population. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs projects that by 2050 China will be home to 437 million people over the age of 60.

中國市場研究報告(China Market Research Reports)發佈的“中國西地那非市場2009-2018年調查報告”估計，中國有5千多萬男性患性功能障礙。對治療藥物的需求預計將隨着中國老齡人口的增長而上升。聯合國經濟及社會理事會預測，到2050年，中國60歲以上的人口將達到4.37億。

According to a Citigroup study cited by CNBC, the current Chinese erectile dysfunction drug market is worth 1.7 billion renminbi a year. This could reach as much as 5 billion renminbi, or $810 million, by 2018, it said, and generic versions of Viagra could take more than half the market. Whereas Viagra is sold in China at more than 90 renminbi, or almost $15, a pill, Baiyunshan plans to market its own version for between 30 to 50 renminbi, giving it a serious competitive advantage.

據CNBC援引的花旗集團(Citigroup)的一項研究，目前中國勃起功能障礙藥物市場的價值是每年17億元人民幣。報告稱，到2018年，這個市場價值可高達50億元人民幣，或8.1億美元，萬艾可的仿製藥可能獲得這個市場的一半還多。萬艾可在中國的售價是每片90多元人民幣，約合將近15美元，白雲山計劃向市場推出的仿製藥的售價是每片30至50元人民幣，具有極大的競爭優勢。

Viagra was introduced to China in 1998, but Pfizer faced a range of challenges to its patent and other litigation until 2007. One of the greatest obstacles the company faced in marketing the drug to Chinese consumers was that it did not own the trademark on its most commonly used Chinese name, “Wei Ge (偉哥),” which sounds somewhat like the English while literally translating to “Great Older Brother,” or “Big Guy.” When Pfizer tried to trademark the colloquial Chinese term for its product, it discovered that that name was already owned by a local pharmaceutical company in Guangzhou and so was left with the lackluster transliteration “Wan Ai Ke (萬艾可),” which has no particular Chinese meaning.

萬艾可在1998年進入中國市場，輝瑞曾面臨過從專利到其他訴訟等一系列挑戰，直至2007年。公司向中國消費者推銷該藥所面臨的最大挑戰是，它不擁有自己藥品最常用的中國名“偉哥”的商標，這個名稱聽起來與英文名接近，字面的意思是“大哥哥”或“大傢伙”。當輝瑞試圖把這個中國口語名稱註冊爲其產品商標時，它發現那個商標已被廣州一家當地製藥公司擁有，所以只能給藥品註冊了枯燥的音譯名“萬艾可”，這個名稱沒有中文的特別意義。

Baiyunshan clearly seeks to mimic the mainland success of “Wei Ge” by naming its product “Jin Ge (金戈),” which means “Golden Dagger-Axe.” This serves up a witty reference to Pfizer’s “Big Guy” in terms of pronunciation while conjuring the image of the phallic, L-shaped blade favored by warriors in the Shang through Han dynasties.

白雲山顯然想通過將其產品命名爲“金戈”來模仿“偉哥”在中國大陸的成功，新名字在發音上與輝瑞的“大傢伙”詼諧地相似，而且“戈”這種受到從商代到漢朝的武士喜愛的勾形刀，讓人聯想起陰莖的形象。

This clear mimicry in both product and marketing is an indication, however, of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry’s weakness, according to an article in China Youth Daily. It quoted Long Yongtu, who was the lead negotiator on China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, as saying in 2006 that 90 percent of the 5,000 or so large and small pharmaceutical companies in China produced only generics, and their combined annual sales revenue totaled less than $40 billion, less than that of a single company of Pfizer’s size. In 2013, Pfizer took in $51.3 billion globally.

然而，從《中國青年報》的一篇文章來看，在產品和營銷上的這種明顯模仿行爲，是中國醫藥行業薄弱的表現。文章引用中國加入世界貿易組織談判的首席代表龍永圖2006年的話說，中國有大大小小5000多家制藥企業，其中90%以上生產仿製藥，所有藥企的總產值加在一起不到400億美元，比不上輝瑞一家的。2013年，輝瑞公司在全球的營業收入是513億美元。

Nearly a decade later, Chinese pharmaceutical companies are still more eager to imitate than innovate, shying away from the huge investments and risks of developing new drugs in favor of the certain returns from imitating tried-and-true blockbuster drugs or repackaging existing formulas. According to China Youth Daily, Chinese pharmaceuticals on average still invest less than 1 percent of their budget in research and development, despite recent government incentives.

將近十年過去了，中國的製藥企業仍熱衷於模仿，而不願創新，企業避開巨大的資金投入及開發新藥的風險，選擇靠模仿經過檢驗的成功暢銷藥、或重新包裝現有成分來獲得確定的回報。據《中國青年報》文章，儘管政府最近推出了獎勵措施，中國醫藥企業平均投資在研發上的錢不到預算的1％。

Generics are nonetheless better alternatives for penny-pinching consumers than the knock-offs that abound in China, as they are subject to governmental regulation and contain the same active ingredients and dosage as the original drug. Time will tell if those who prefer traditional Chinese medicine virility treatments such as pangolin scales or tiger penis will be swayed by the new “Golden Dagger-Ax” on the market.

雖然如此，對想省錢的消費者來說，仿製藥仍比中國無所不在的假貨好得多，因爲仿製藥受到政府監管，含有相同的活性成分，劑量也與原藥相同。那些更喜歡傳統的中國壯陽藥，比如穿山甲鱗片或虎鞭的人，是否會被市場上新的“金戈”征服，有待時間證明。