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Biotech / Medical : VVUS: VIVUS INC. (NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Andreas Samson who wrote (19547)	3/10/1999 10:55:00 AM
From: xclently	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23519

The original report in the S.F. Chronicle offers some more optimistic information... sfgate.com >>>A Mountain View drug company won a patent yesterday for a rub-on cream or gel that might do for women what Viagra has done for men. Shares in Vivus Inc. more than doubled to $4.81 yesterday after the firm announced its patent covering topical use of the drug alprostadil and other compounds for female sexual dysfunction. Alprostadil is the active ingredient in Muse, a Vivus product for male impotence that has been overshadowed by Viagra. Vivus will now ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for permission to begin testing alprostadil on women's genitalia, chief executive Leland Wilson said. A patent merely gives a company commercial rights to a product. Only the FDA can approve a drug for sale. So far, Vivus has only tested its compound on female rabbits and cats. Professor Louann Brizendine, who studies female sexual dysfunction at the University of California at San Francisco, said it would be at least two years before scientists know whether alprostadil creams or gels can safely improve orgasm in women. But she said the basic hypothesis is sound. Like the penis, the female clitoris must become engorged with blood for the woman to experience arousal. Vivus said its tests in men have already shown that alprostadil relaxes penile blood vessels, promoting erections in some subjects. ''Vascular dilation and improved erection of the clitoris might result in better, stronger orgasms for women,'' she said. Mary Lake Polan, chair of gynecology and obstetrics at Stanford University, said it's far too early to say whether an alprostadil cream for women would be more effective than a placebo. ''But there is a need for something like this,'' she said, adding that sexual dysfunction is one of the most common complaints of women who are soon approaching, experiencing or past menopause. Polan said the commercial success of Viagra for men has legitimized discussion of sexual dysfunction for both genders. Pfizer has tested its male potency pill Viagra for potential use on women. So far, those tests have had mixed results. Viagra's success nearly sunk Vivus as a company. In January 1997, when Vivus started selling alprostadil for men under the brand name Muse, it enjoyed a spurt of sales and popularity, and its stock briefly reached the $40s. A few months later, after Viagra's stunning debut, Muse prescriptions plummeted, as did Vivus shares. Before yesterday's news, Vivus was trading just above $2 per share and had hired an investment banking firm to look for someone to buy it. Last year, Vivus lost $80.3 million on sales of $71.7 million. In 1997, the company earned $36.6 million on $129.3 million in revenues. Wilson, the Vivus CEO, said Viagra became popular because, as a pill, it was far easier to use than Muse -- a tiny pellet that must be inserted into the opening in the tip of the penis. Muse ''was tough to apply,'' Wilson said. An alprostadil cream for women won't pose that problem. ''I would submit that females are accustomed to treating vaginal conditions topically,'' he said. Brizendine, the UCSF researcher, quipped, ''The hope is that a little dab will do you.'' ©1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page E1 ...<<<< Oh BTW, I hear there are some very happy rabbits and cats at the testing center!!!