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Tadalafil and vardenafil

Abstract

In 2003, two inhibitors of phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) — tadalafil (Cialis; Lilly ICOS) and vardenafil hydrochloride (Levitra; Bayer/ GlaxoSmithKline) — were approved by the US FDA for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. Can they challenge the dominance of the first PDE5 inhibitor, sildenafil citrate (Viagra; Pfizer), which rapidly became a blockbuster following its market entry in the late 1990s?

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Figure 1: PDE5 inhibition.
Figure 2: Market for drugs to treat erectile dysfunction in US $ million.

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Correspondence to Katherine Neumeyer.

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Neumeyer, K., Kirkpatrick, P. Tadalafil and vardenafil. Nat Rev Drug Discov 3, 295–296 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd1362

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