 First there were potions, then pumps, then pills. But finding help for problems with sexual arousal could soon be as easy as buying toothpaste - with the arrival of an impotence treatment in a tube. A gel expected to become the world's first over-the-counter medication for erectile dysfunction was announced to a clamour of excitement from pharmaceutical executives and claims of a new sexual revolution. The non-prescription treatment, which would be available from pharmacies and supermarkets, will bring anti-impotence treatments into the consumer mainstream as never before if it passes clinical trials.
| Gonna try and penetrate the market, huh? |
The gel, which is codenamed MED2002, is being developed by Futura Medical in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline and is designed to be applied directly to the penis. If successful, it will go into direct competition with lucrative drugs such as Viagra, Pfizer's famous little blue pill, in the multi-billion-dollar market for anti-impotence treatments.
The product is based on glyceryl trinitrate, or GTN, which dilates blood vessels and has been used for the treatment of angina for more than 40 years. Viagra was also originally developed as a heart drug but during clinical trials it was found to have interesting side effects. Since it was introduced in 1998, it has been prescribed to more than 23million men.
Viagra's success also generated a grey market of counterfeit products to satisfy the huge demand for impotence treatment from men unwilling to attend a GP's surgery. Such potentially embarrassing face-to-face consultations are avoided with non-prescription medicines, which backers of MED2002 see as key to gaining a significant market share.
About 1500 men are expected to be recruited into three clinical studies of MED2002, the first of which will begin before the end of this year. The goal is to have collected enough data on the safety and effectiveness of the gel for it to be filed for regulatory approval in 2008. As well as monitoring the use of MED2002 on male users, the trials will also study its effects on women, who will come into contact with the gel during sex.
The deal signed between Futura, a small British sexual health specialist, and GSK will offer the pharmaceutical giant two first-refusal rights on twoother products in early-stage development - a non-prescription treatment for female sexual dysfunction and a treatment for premature ejaculation. MED2002 could be in the shops within three years.
| That's not a firm date, of course... |
| ... wouldn't want to be premature about marketing this ... |
| still, if there's an opening that needs to be filled, it is a growth industry. |
| That does seem to be the thrust and the point of the article. |
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