Sgt Sostand
08-20-03, 06:13 AM
FDA approves rival to Viagra
Levitra is second pill for impotence, but is it better?
Aug. 19 — GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Bayer AG won U.S. approval on Tuesday to sell impotence drug Levitra, setting the stage for a fierce battle with Viagra in a billion-dollar-plus market
THE ANNOUNCEMENT, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, means that Levitra, an orange pill, will give American men their first oral alternative to Pfizer Inc.’s famous diamond-shaped blue Viagra, the pill that transformed impotence treatment after its 1998 debut.
Levitra is in the same family as Viagra. Both work by targeting an enzyme important for maintaining an erection. An estimated 30 million American men suffer some degree of impotence.
Levitra, made by Bayer AG and marketed by GlaxoSmithKline, recently began selling in Europe. A third impotence pill — Cialis, from Eli Lilly & Co. and Icos Corp. — also has European approval and is expected to hit U.S. pharmacies later this year.
There have been no published studies directly comparing the pills to determine advantages of each. But the potency, speed and duration of each drug are hotly disputed.
Levitra is second pill for impotence, but is it better?
Aug. 19 — GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Bayer AG won U.S. approval on Tuesday to sell impotence drug Levitra, setting the stage for a fierce battle with Viagra in a billion-dollar-plus market
THE ANNOUNCEMENT, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, means that Levitra, an orange pill, will give American men their first oral alternative to Pfizer Inc.’s famous diamond-shaped blue Viagra, the pill that transformed impotence treatment after its 1998 debut.
Levitra is in the same family as Viagra. Both work by targeting an enzyme important for maintaining an erection. An estimated 30 million American men suffer some degree of impotence.
Levitra, made by Bayer AG and marketed by GlaxoSmithKline, recently began selling in Europe. A third impotence pill — Cialis, from Eli Lilly & Co. and Icos Corp. — also has European approval and is expected to hit U.S. pharmacies later this year.
There have been no published studies directly comparing the pills to determine advantages of each. But the potency, speed and duration of each drug are hotly disputed.