Does New Drug Work 20 Hours Longer Than Viagra? 'Marathon effect' of impotence drug

Wednesday, 2 May 2001, 10:31 GMT 11:31 UK

Does New Drug Work 20 Hours Longer Than Viagra? 'Marathon effect' of impotence drug

Impotent men who take a new drug for the condition may be able to have sex up to 24 hours later, claims the maker.

Cialis, a medication trying to gain a foothold in the lucrative anti-impotence market created by Viagra, is being tested by doctors.

Pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly wants to be able to market Cialis in the US from the second half of this year.

Their trial involved 223 men with moderate to severe impotence, some of whom were given Cialis, and the rest a dummy placebo.

While the drug group were statistically more likely to achieve erection, they were also more likely to have successful second sexual encounters during a 24-hour period.

Dr Harin Padma-Nathan, a professor of urology at the University of Southern California, who led the study, acknowledged that other impotence drugs had not been tested for this longevity of effect.

However, he said: "We saw a huge clinical difference within 24 hours in patients taking Cialis and many of the men indicated a sense of freedom and spontaneity."

Other trials have also suggested that the drug is effective against some forms of impotence.

It is estimated that more than 7m men worldwide have taken the original impotence drug, Viagra, since it came onto the market in 1998.

Almost £400m has been spent paying for the treatment.

It is not freely available on the NHS, although men with a range of conditions which cause impotence as a side-effect are given a fixed number of pills on prescription.

Approximately 300,000 NHS prescriptions for the drug are handed out every year.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

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Tuesday May 01, 2001 09:52 PM EDT

A 24-Hour Viagra?

By Robin Eisner ABCNEWS.com

Viagra may face some stiff competition in bedrooms soon. Results from preliminary tests show a new drug under development may maintain erectile function for 20 hours longer than Viagra.

Viagra is a hard act to follow, but a new drug under development hopes to give the little blue pill some stiff competition.

Cialis, a drug being developed by Eli Lilly and Co. and Icos Corp., may be able to give men erections for 24 hours after he takes the drug, or approximately 20 hours longer than Viagra can.

"Cialis has the potential to be a valuable new treatment option for men with ED [erectile dysfunction] and their partners," says Dr. Harin Padma-Nathan, a urologist with UCLA and lead investigator of two studies testing the drug for the companies.

"A therapy that allows a man with ED to engage in intercourse within a 24-hour window permits the couple to regain spontaneity in their sexual relationship."

Viagra's manufacturer, Pfizer, Inc., recommends men take Viagra about one hour before engaging in sexual activity. The drug helps men get an erection if they are sexually excited in about 30 minutes and lasting up to four hours, the company says.

Erections Up to 24 Hours Later

In one of the studies being reported today, 61 men with mild to severe erectile dysfunction received either Cialis or a placebo in a clinical setting. The doctors were not aware which patients received the drug or the placebo until after the data was collected.

After taking the drug and looking at sexual images, the doctors measured the men's response with a RigiScan, or a device that measures the firmness and duration of erections.

The men taking the Cialis were more successful at achieving erections, even up to 24 hours later, Padma-Nathan reports.

Sixteen Minutes to Action?

In another study, 223 men took the drug or a placebo at home, in a more natural setting. The men were instructed to take the drug before engaging in sexual activity and to use a stopwatch to record the time it took to achieve an erection.

Men were able to get an erection as early as 16 minutes after taking the drug and could have a second sexual encounter up to 24 hours later, Padma-Nathan found.

The firms report no significant side effects from the drug, except headaches.

Too Soon to Tell For Public Use

Experts commenting on the studies said it was too early to tell if Cialis represented an improvement on Viagra.

"It would have to be tested head to head with Viagra rather than a placebo to see if it is better," says Dr. Michael P. O'Leary, associate professor of urology at Harvard Medical School.

More men also need to be tested to see if any side effects show up in a larger population.

The firms are continuing with larger studies of the drug and plan on doing comparison tests with Viagra, says Lacy Fitzpatrick, a spokeswoman for Icos.

The findings of these studies will be presented at the 96th annual meeting of the American Urological Association meeting next month in Anaheim, Calif.