Rivals on the rise
2003-09-03 11:05
Singapore - Competition is heating up for Viagra, with more drugs to treat male impotence launched in Singapore.
Germany's Bayer HealthCare and Britain's GlaxoSmithKline unveiled their orange pill, Levitra, on Tuesday.
The first challenger against Pfizer's famous blue pill was Cialis, a yellow one made by another US drug company, Eli Lilly, which received the nod for sale here in April.
The three drugs work on similar principles, targeting the same enzyme that stimulates and sustains an erection.
"So we would expect them to be of similar efficacy and cause similar side effects such as headaches, muscles aches and indigestion," Dr Christopher Cheng, head of Singapore General Hospital's urology department, told The Straits Times.
The effect of Viagra and Levitra lasts for up to four hours, while Cialis is effective for up to 36 hours.
The drug companies welcomed the increased competition.
"With more players, there will be more awareness of erectile dysfunction, and its treatment rat will get higher," CT Renganathan, Eli Lilly's country manager, was quoted as saying. - Sapa-DPA
- SAPA