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PATENTS
Viagra's Success Opens New Sexual
Dysfunction Market: Women
By TERESA RIORDAN
ith the recent success of Viagra, the impotence drug for
men, a number of companies are scurrying to develop
sexual-dysfunction therapies aimed at an even larger market:
women.
A recent article in The Journal of the American Medical
Association, for example, reported that 43 percent of women
suffer from sexual dysfunction, compared with 31 percent of
men.
"It's potentially a $5-billion-a-year market," contends Dr. Michael
Wysor, who along with his wife, Dr. Wanda Drinnon Wysor,
patented an ointment this month that when applied to the clitoris,
the inventors say, can induce multiple orgasms in women.
Michael Wysor, who is based in Knoxville, Tenn., and who
specializes in treating impotence, said of the ointment: "It
increases blood flow tremendously and basically eliminates the
need for foreplay. This is going to have an impact equal to that
seen with the introduction of the Pill."
The Wysors thought that theirs was the first such patent to be
issued, so they were surprised to learn last week that a similar
patent had been issued the month before to Vivus, a drug
company in Mountain View, Calif.
The Wysors' patent appears to cover a broad range of
hormonelike chemicals called prostaglandins in treating female
sexual dysfunction as well as in preventing yeast infections and
improving vaginal muscle tone.
A prostaglandin known as alprostadil is already on the market to
treat male impotence. Indeed, Vivus sells a pellet version of
alprostadil that is inserted into the tip of the penis. An injectable
version of alprostadil is sold by Upjohn under the name of
Caverject. Other companies have been developing a cream
version, which has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug
Administration.
So what advantage would a prostaglandin-based gel have over
Viagra, which is being tested for use in women?
"It's a naturally occurring substance delivered locally, so there is
a very low incidence of systemic side effects," said Leland
Wilson, president of Vivus. Because Viagra is taken as a pill, he
said, it has to circulate in the whole body, "to the heart, brain,
and lungs, in order to get to a small area in the genital region."
Vivus thus far has tested its gel only in female cats and rabbits.
Though the Wysors have not conducted formal clinical trials,
their patent refers to testing done on human volunteers who
experienced on average "enhanced sexual response in three to
four minutes."
What about the similarity between the two patents? Normally, a
conflict between pending patent applications is resolved before
the patents are issued, in a secret procedure called an
"interference."
"I think the Patent Office goofed here," said Michael Ebert, the
Wysors' patent lawyer, who is based in New York City.
Ebert contended that the Wysors' patent was strong because it
was based upon human studies. Officials at Vivus said they
were still studying the rival patent but noted that they applied for,
and received, their patent before the Wysors did.
"Ours is a bigger, better and earlier patent," said Nina Ferrari, a
spokeswoman for Vivus.
At this point, it is likely that any conflict between the two patents
would have to be resolved in court.
The Wysors received patent 5,891,915. Vivus was awarded
patent 5,877,216.
Pictures Available on Patent Web Site
Last week, in a ceremony at the Commerce Department, the
Patent and Trademark Office demonstrated a new feature of the
searchable patent database on its Web site. The new feature?
The ability to display the illustrations that accompany patents.
Until recently, the site displayed only the text of a patent and not
the pictures that went with it.
The acting commissioner, Todd Dickinson, successfully linked
up to photographs that appear in a patent recently issued to
Bert Vogelstein, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health.
Then Dickinson tried to do the same for a patent that was
recently issued to IBM.
Alas, the images for the IBM patent were not forthcoming.
Nonetheless, the Patent Office says that everything is in good
working order. Those wanting to try for themselves to see
images on the Patent Office site may need to plug special
software into their browsers. More information is available at the
site (www.uspto.gov).
Patent images have been available on line since 1997 on IBM's
own patent site (www.ibm.patents.com), which it operates as a
philanthropic gesture.
Patents may be viewed on the Web at www.uspto.gov or may be
ordered through the mail, by patent number, for $3 from the Patent
and Trademark Office, Washington D.C. 20231.
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
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