Extracted from The Straits TimesViagra will face competition here by June, when the male impotence drug Cialis is made available in SingaporeBy Salma Khalik
VIAGRA, which revived the love life of many an impotent man, will soon have serious competition in Singapore.
Though not in time for Valentine's Day.
Cialis, also a drug used to treat male impotence, is made by Eli Lilly. It has been approved for use and is expected to be available here before the middle of the year.
It has been nicknamed the 'weekend pill' because its effects last 36 hours.
So, if taken on Saturday night, it should still be effective on Monday morning.
Viagra is good for four hours.
Cialis is the first serious competitor to Viagra, whose worldwide sales totalled US$1.7 billion (S$3 billion) last year.
Viagra is the third best-selling drug in Singapore, after the weight loss drug Xenical and cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, according to Pfizer, which makes both Viagra and Lipitor.
Singapore is the first Asian country to give the nod to Cialis. It is already available in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Though it may be months before Cialis goes on sale here, the tussle with Viagra has already begun.
Eli Lilly's country manager, Mr C.T. Renganathan, said that since Cialis remains effective for a longer time, 'patients now have the freedom to choose moments of intimacy, confident in the knowledge that it will be effective anytime within 36 hours'.
A spokesman for Pfizer said studies had shown that four hours was enough for 90 per cent of couples.
Viagra, he said, 'is not a drug that aims to change natural sexual patterns'.
He said he welcomes the competition because he expects demand to grow as more men come forward for treatment.
In Singapore, between 300,000 and 600,000 men over the age of 40 have problems getting or sustaining an erection.
But only 10 to 15 per cent of them seek treatment.
'With four years of data behind Viagra, there's really no room for comparison.'
Pfizer, he said, will continue to raise awareness through public forums and dialogues with doctors.
Eli Lilly said it was too soon to disclose its strategy. It said Cialis would be priced 'competitively'.
Viagra costs about $20 a pill.
How do the drugs compare?
The Health Sciences Authority, which last month approved Cialis for sale here, said that overall, they seemed to be about equally effective, but there had been no studies that compared them directly.
Both have side effects.
Viagra may cause headaches, indigestion and sensitivity to light. Cialis can trigger headaches, backaches and muscle aches.
Singapore General Hospital's head of urology, Dr Christopher Cheng, who was involved in trials for both drugs, said it was up to patients to decide if they want a short-term drug or one that lasts for more than a day.
But the drugs should not be used together, he said, because this could cause serious side effects.
