Viagra, Competitors Takes Center Stage as Urologists Meet
Bloomberg News
May 30, 1998, 1:52 p.m. PT
Viagra, Competitors Takes Center Stage as Urologists Meet
San Diego, May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc.'s blockbuster
pill Viagra and a handful of other impotence drugs will dominate
discussions as doctors gather in San Diego today for the opening
of the world's largest annual urology meeting.
Interest in the proceedings of the American Urological
Association has never been greater, analysts say, as doctors meet
to exchange information about the use of Viagra and evaluate data
on current and would-be competitors to the drug.
Schering-Plough Corp. and Zonagen Inc. as well as Abbott
Laboratories and Japan's Takeda Chemical Industries will present
data on two impotence pills in development, while Vivus Inc.
hopes to impress doctors with trials of its treatment,
Muse, which is inserted through the urethra.
''This will give a very educated audience an opportunity to
see the facts from serious clinical trials,'' said David Saks, an
analyst with Gruntal & Co. ''No Hollywood hype will be tolerated
at the AUA meeting.''
Viagra has been the focus of unprecedented media attention
during the past month because its introduction caused millions of
people to openly discuss the issue of impotence for the first
time and created a market that drug-industry analysts say could
reach $4 billion in sales annually.
Vasomax and Apomorphine
Impotence is a problem for as many as an estimated 30
million men in the U.S., including more than a third of 40-year-
olds and two-thirds of 70-year-olds. While surgery, vacuum pumps,
prostheses, penile injections and drug delivery through the
urethra have been available for years, they can be painful and
awkward to use, and have left many men reluctant to discuss the
problem with their doctors.
Schering-Plough last year joined the battle for that market
by acquiring rights to market Zonagen's Vasomax. That pill, which
is yet to be submitted for FDA approval, yesterday won approval
for sale in Mexico.
Abbott Laboratories and Japan's Takeda Chemical Industries,
meanwhile, are preparing to file for approval to market
apomorphine, yet another pill treatment for impotence.
One issue that physicians will focus on as they meet
tomorrow and Tuesday to discuss impotence is how the
effectiveness and safety of the three drugs differ, the main
criteria they consider when choosing among competing products.
Not for All Patients
Though some 1 million men have already sought Viagra
prescriptions, the drug is not for all patients.
It should not be taken with nitrates, common drugs that
dilate arteries in patients with chest pain. That combination can
lead to severely lowered blood pressure, a heart attack, or
death. So far, it appears that Vasomax and apomorphine don't
present this risk.
Pfizer last week said that three patients who used the drug
appear to have died because they mixed it with the common heart
medicines such as nitroglycerin. Another three Viagra users
appear to have died as a result of heart attacks or strokes
associated with sexual activity in older men, the company said.
Doctors won't be reviewing data from Icos Corp., whose
impotence drug is in earlier-stage human trials than Vasomax and
apomorphine. Icos shares rose 30 percent yesterday on enthusiasm
about the drug, IC351.
Vivus Inc. is hoping results of trials it sponsored will
boost prescriptions of Muse, which works by inserting an
alprostadil pellet into the urethra.
Those studies aren't likely to convince doctors to prescribe
Muse before trying Viagra first, said Ira Sharlip, a member of
the AUA's impotence guidelines committee.
''Viagra works better than I thought it would and that's
what everybody wants to try,'' Sharlip said. ''Muse has been
effective in some men, but not a large percentage of those who
have tried it in the past.''
Still, companies like Vivus and Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc.,
which makes Caverject, an injectible form of alprostadil, stand
to gain in the long-term if they're used by 20 percent of men
that Sharlip estimates won't find pills effective.
--Jim Finkle in San Diego through the Princeton newsroom (609) |
