ABBOTT HAS FASTER DRUG THAN VIAGRA UPRIMA ADVANTAGE OFFSET BY SIDE EFFECT
Bruce Japsen, Tribune Staff Writer
05/05/1999
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGOLAND FINAL; N
Page 1
An impotency pill developed by Abbott Laboratories' Japanese joint venture appears to work faster than Viagra, but Wall Street and medical researchers say it is unclear whether it will challenge market leader Pfizer Inc.'s erectile dysfunction drug.
Uprima, developed by TAP Holdings Inc., Abbott's lucrative joint venture with Osaka, Japan-based Takeda Chemical Industries, proved to be safe and effective in final-stage clinical trials, with men achieving erection in 10 to 20 minutes, according to researchers who presented data Tuesday at the American Urological Association meeting in Dallas.
"That's very appealing because of the issue of spontaneity," said researcher Dr. Eugene Dula, a urologist in private practice in Van Nuys, Calif.
Clinical trials presented Tuesday are the last before TAP submits Uprima to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval. By early 2000, Uprima could be on the market with Viagra and Zonagen Inc.'s Vasomax, which is expected to get FDA approval soon and be on the market this summer.
Viagra triggers erections in 20 minutes to an hour while Vasomax takes about 30 minutes, said Dr. Harin Padma-Nathan, a professor of urology at the University of Southern California School of Medicine and director of the Male Clinic in Beverly Hills, Calif.
But studies thus far have not offered direct comparisons of the impotency drugs, so Padma-Nathan said it is unclear whether men will prefer another drug to Viagra.
"It's a different mechanism of reaction, and in some men that could be preferable," Padma-Nathan said of Uprima. "Typically, when the next drug comes in, you get 30 percent of the market share."
But more than 90 percent of men who have taken Viagra for two years in clinical trials are satisfied with the drug, research released at the urology meeting indicates. That doesn't bode well for similar sales for Uprima.
Researchers say Uprima, the brand name TAP gave its apomorphine compound, may work more quickly because it dissolves under the tongue, and bypasses the digestive system.
Uprima is also different because it goes to work in the central nervous system, stimulating brain centers for sexual response.
Messages are then sent down the spinal cord to the pelvic arteries, which fill with blood and lead to an erection.
A major downside of Uprima, however, is its nausea side effect. Tuesday's data indicate that from 0.5 to 16 percent of patients became nauseous, depending on their dosage.
"The issue at hand is the rate of nausea," said Glenn Reicin, an analyst with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in New York.
"(Uprima) mainly will be used for those patients that just don't respond to Viagra, which limits the ultimate potential of the drug."
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