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Two new competitors in the ED arena
January 28, 2004
The television ad shows NASCAR champ Mark
Martin speeding around the racetrack in his
No. 6 Ford Taurus, the word "Viagra"
splashed across his car and his clothes.
In the 15 seconds the commercial lasts, an
estimated 135 Viagra
tablets have been dispensed somewhere in the
world - nine every second.
The pioneering medication for impotence has
become one of the world's most widely prescribed
drugs, with a name as recognizable as Nike or
Coke.
"It's like Hoover and vacuum cleaners,"
says Geraint Thomas, a spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline,
which makes a rival drug, Levitra. "That
is what we're up against."
An Internet search for Viagra brings up 12.7
million hits, and the official Viagra site has
been visited more than 13 million times.
The baby-blue pill that became the butt of
a thousand late-night talk-show jokes has drug
maker Pfizer Inc. laughing all the way to the
bank. Since its launch in March 1998, 130 million
Viagra prescriptions have been written for 20
million men worldwide who suffer from what is
medically known as erectile dysfunction, or
ED.
Estimates are that 30 million Americans suffer
from erectile
dysfunction, but only 10 percent have sought
treatment.
And there will be a never-ending supply of
potential patients. According to Pfizer studies,
there is a 12 percent decline in erectile function
for every decade a man ages, and a 3 percent
decline for every 20 pounds he gains. Research
shows the disease will affect half of all men
over the age of 40, and 30 percent of all cases
will be moderate to severe - a veritable ED
epidemic.
It's no wonder there are two new competitors
in the arena: Levitra, made by Bayer Pharmaceuticals
and GlaxoSmithKline, which won approval in August;
and Cialis, on the market since December and
touted by partners ICOS and Eli Lilly as the
next generation of impotence drugs.
All three work the same way, by increasing
blood flow to the penis. None of them is an
aphrodisiac or hormone, and none creates desire
where none exists. They're also not magic pills
for instant erections; all require stimulation
to work.
The good news, says Aurora, Colo., urologist
Joel Kaufman, is that Viagra, Levitra and Cialis
do help men who need it. The bad news is that
ED probably is an early sign of other major
health problems.
Once thought to be mainly psychological, ED
now is closely linked to hypertension, high
cholesterol, diabetes, alcoholism and smoking.
But getting men with ED to confide in their
doctors isn't easy, for lots of reasons: the
man might not care, he might be sick, he might
not have a partner or he might have a partner
uninterested in sex. Even more likely: He's
in denial, too embarrassed or unaware that there
are treatments that work.
"Men aren't good communicators,"
Kaufman says. "If a woman has a medical
problem, she might share it with friends. But
if a man can't get an erection, he's not about
to tell his buddies."
The availability, efficacy and safety of Viagra
have taken ED treatment out of the hands of
urologists and put it into the hands of primary-care
physicians, Kaufman says.
It's also easy to get over the Internet, but
so-called "recreational" use of Viagra
by men who supposedly don't need it is probably
overstated, Kaufman says. The drug won't improve
the sexual performance of a man who has no problems
in that department.
The newest drug, Cialis,
takes longer to kick in than the other two but
works significantly longer - 36 hours, compared
with about four for Viagra and Levitra. Cialis'
effect also isn't diminished by food or alcohol,
a problem with Viagra and, to a lesser extent,
with Levitra.
Lilly research shows that Viagra's brief life
causes chronic clock-watching, and that couples
want to choose the right moment for sex themselves,
rather than have a pill pick it for them, says
Khoso Baluch, who heads Eli Lilly's U.S. marketing
campaign.
The company plans to focus on long-lasting
Cialis' benefit to couples.
"Make them forget about it," Baluch
says. "Just take a tablet on Friday evening
and not think about it again till Sunday."
Viagra-maker Pfizer has targeted a younger
audience, dumping its early spokesman, former
Sen. Bob Dole, in favor of front men Martin
and baseball star Rafael Palmeiro. Levitra has
recruited football great Mike Ditka and is a
sponsor of the National Football League - a
not-so-subtle reminder that ED strikes even
the most macho.
Cialis has aligned itself with the PGA and
the Western Open, but it doesn't need a celebrity
spokesman, Baluch says, because the drug's staying
power sets it apart.
source:-http://www.abqtrib.com
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