Middle-aged men's "emergency remedy" is no longer selling well

Why did Jin Ge, which rose with low prices, fail in centralized procurement?

When mentioning Baiyunshan, many people might first think of its Banlangen and Compound Danshen Tablets, but in fact, for a long time, the real money-maker for Baiyunshan was a drug called “Jin Ge,” commonly referred to as the domestic Viagra.

When this drug was first launched, it was like a “money-printing machine,” but in the past two years, it has clearly “struggled to sell.”

01

Once able to make money effortlessly, now facing two consecutive years of decline

The rise of Jin Ge was quite timely.

Before 2014, the domestic market for treating male ED (erectile dysfunction) was basically monopolized by the imported Viagra, which was outrageously priced at over a hundred bucks a pill, making many hesitant to purchase.

That year, Viagra’s patent expired, and Baiyunshan seized the opportunity to launch the domestic generic Jin Ge, reducing the price to one-third of Viagra’s.

With similar efficacy but significantly lower cost, the public naturally preferred to buy it.

In its first year on the market, Jin Ge sold only 2.92 million pills, which wasn’t much, but in the second year, it exploded, selling 14.95 million pills, more than a fivefold increase.

From 2015 to 2023, in those nine years, Jin Ge skyrocketed: sales increased from 14.95 million pills to 101 million pills, averaging a growth of 37% per year; revenue also surged from 234 million yuan to 1.29 billion yuan, at its peak, for every 10 yuan sold, over 9 yuan was profit, with a gross margin exceeding 90%.

By 2019, Jin Ge’s sales and revenue directly surpassed that of imported Viagra, becoming the “top dog” in this field domestically, with a market share peaking at 55%.

This means that for every two ED pills sold in the country, one was Jin Ge. At that time, Jin Ge was indeed a cash cow for Baiyunshan, making money effortlessly.

But every glory has its end; in 2024, Jin Ge experienced its first decline, with sales dropping to 87.85 million pills, a 13% decrease from the previous year; revenue also fell to 1.034 billion yuan, down nearly 20%.

The once “money-printing machine” has gradually gone downhill.

02

It’s not that Jin Ge is failing; it’s that it can’t withstand these two pressures

Some might think that people no longer need this medication. That’s not the case.

The 2025 “China Male Health White Paper” shows that the ED rate among Chinese men has reached 43.4%, up from 38.17% in 2024.

The overall market hasn’t contracted; in fact, it has expanded.

Jin Ge’s sales struggles stem not from market demand but from its inability to withstand two pressures.

The first pressure is that the price war has become too intense, eroding Jin Ge’s competitive advantage.

Jin Ge’s success was primarily due to its affordability.

However, more and more companies saw this profitable segment and began producing similar generic drugs. By March 2025, nearly 50 companies in China were already able to produce this medication, making competition fierce.

Even more damaging was the national centralized procurement in 2020, which essentially required companies to submit low prices, allowing the lowest bidders to enter public hospitals.

According to the Company Research Institute of Phoenix Finance, at that time, Qilu Pharmaceutical’s similar product “Qianwei” quoted a floor price of 2.08 yuan per pill, a 92% reduction from the original price, while Jin Ge failed to win bids due to its high price, losing access to the public hospital sales channel.

The external market has also faced challenges, as imported Viagra began to lower its prices from over a hundred yuan to below thirty yuan. Although Jin Ge also reduced its price, it remained significantly more expensive than Qianwei, and its former cost-effectiveness advantage was completely lost, leading the public to opt for cheaper alternatives.

The second pressure is that the product has become “stale,” failing to meet current demands.

Jin Ge is a short-acting drug, effective for about 4-6 hours, while many prefer long-acting medications, such as Eli Lilly’s Cialis, which lasts for 36 hours, providing more convenience without needing to time their dosages, and it can also treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, making it popular among middle-aged men.

Additionally, there are now many new dosage forms, like orally disintegrating tablets, which dissolve in the mouth without water, acting faster. Many competitive products have already been launched, but Jin Ge has remained unchanged, lacking innovation, and its user experience has fallen behind, leading to decreased sales.

Ultimately, the decline of Jin Ge is not coincidental.

It began with low prices but failed to keep pace with changes in policy, competition, and consumer demand. Once the advantages faded, it naturally couldn’t hold on.

This is actually a common issue among many domestic generic drugs—relying on imitation and low prices to seize market share while neglecting innovation and user experience. Once the market shifts, they can easily fall into trouble.

As for whether Baiyunshan can help Jin Ge “stand up” again, it will depend on whether it can come up with a truly effective solution moving forward.