China’s Changshan Pharmaceutical issued an announcement on May 16, 2018, claiming that its subsidiary’s research and development of a drug for the treatment of male erectile dysfunction had been approved by the authorities for production. The announcement also mentioned that there are about 140 million Chinese men suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED), and assuming 30% receive treatment, the number will reach 42 million, and if patients use the drug multiple times a year, the potential future market size in China is expected to reach the level of RMB 10 billion.
Since Changshan Pharmaceutical is a listed company, the announcement caused a vast amount of discussion, with the stock price soaring and executives taking the opportunity to sell shares to cash in, leading to the company being targeted by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and many Chinese netizens even questioning the authenticity of the data, even considering it insulting.
According to the skeptics, if China’s population is 1.4 billion, with a 50/50 ratio of men to women, that means there are 700 million men in China, and if it is true that 140 million people have erectile dysfunction according to Changshan Pharmaceutical, then it is equivalent to 1 in 5 Chinese men being impotent, a ratio of 20%, which seems to be somewhat different from the common perception.
Changshan Pharmaceuticals argued that the data was obtained by the company through an Internet search, citing research reports by brokerage firms Guoxin Securities and Dongwu Securities.
The CSRC found that 140 million people in China have erectile dysfunction, which constituted a misleading statement, and fined Changshan Pharma 600,000 yuan, then chairman and general manager Gao Shuhua and then deputy general manager Wu Zhiping 300,000 yuan. Changshan Pharmaceutical announced on the 28th that it had received the punishment letter from the SFC and the investigation was officially closed.
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