Is the halo of "domestic Viagra" fading? Baiyunshan (白云山) Jin'ge (金戈) sales fall by nearly 8 million tablets as two‑year decline continues

Sharp drop after a decade of dominance

Baiyunshan (白云山)’s flagship erectile dysfunction pill Jin'ge (金戈) sold about 79.87 million tablets in 2025, roughly 8 million fewer than the previous year and marking a second consecutive annual decline, it has been reported that. That is a long fall from its 2023 peak—when Jin'ge cleared 100 million tablets and delivered 12.90亿元 in revenue—making this one of the clearest signs that the domestic generics bonanza is cooling. Once celebrated as the homegrown price disruptor that overturned foreign incumbents, Jin'ge now faces “middle‑age” market pressures.

Price wars, policy and a shifting channel mix

The reasons are familiar to anyone watching China’s pharmaceutical market. Centralized procurement (国家药品集采) and a flood of generic approvals have driven prices toward the floor: by 2025 nearly 50 firms had approvals for sildenafil generics and more than 70 for tadalafil, and collective bidding has produced single‑digit prices—Qilu’s sildenafil bid in 2020 was reported at RMB 2.08 per pill, a 92% cut. Hospital demand has collapsed for many established brands; meanwhile sales have migrated to retail pharmacies and e‑commerce, where discounts and new low‑price entrants compress margins. Jin'ge’s once‑stellar ~90% gross margin and market share have been eroded by volume and price decline.

What comes next?

Players are trying to pivot. Firms are experimenting with new formulations—oral‑disintegrating tablets, dissolvable films and suspensions—to recover convenience and privacy advantages in the retail channel. At the same time, Chinese innovators are pushing first‑in‑class or differentiated PDE5 inhibitors: two domestically developed ED drugs were approved in July 2025, reportedly aiming to compete on side‑effect profiles and selectivity rather than price. Foreign originators have also retrenched or divested China rights in recent years, reflecting a broader geopolitical and commercial recalibration that reshapes who competes in what channels. So can Jin'ge reclaim its halo? Or will the market rewrite itself around novel formulations and next‑generation domestic drugs rather than the old blue pill? The answer will depend on whether manufacturers can find clinical or patient‑experience differentiation beyond the price battleground.