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American Morning
House Call: Levitra Versus Viagra
Aired August 19, 2003 - 07:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Medical news right now. The FDA is about to approve the impotence drug, Levitra, as an alternative to Viagra. Will the orange pill give the little blue pill a run for its money? And there's a lot of money at stake here.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center takes us through this one.
Good morning -- Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Yes, you know, it's sort of surprising it hasn't happened sooner -- that is, a rival to Viagra. It's a very, very popular drug around the world and a very financially lucrative drug as well -- $1.7 billion in global sales of Viagra alone last year.
They say about nine pills are popped every second of this particular pill. So, no question then that it's a very popular drug, and that a rival was sort of in the works. And that rival comes in the form of Levitra, which may gain FDA approval later on this month -- that's 50 trials involving 6,000 men later.
Now, just a little bit of history. First of all, you'll remember, Bill, we've talked about this before, but when Viagra was first being studied, it wasn't being studied to treat impotence. It was being studied to treat chest pain, actually. This drug actually works by dilating some of the blood vessels in the body. And both of these drugs probably work in similar mechanisms.
Now, Levitra, again, has been around the world already. It's been in the 30 European countries. FDA approval is expected later on this month.
A couple of things as well about this. There has been -- these two drugs work sort of the same way. They both sort of work by dilating the blood vessels around the body. They probably have similar side effects as well.
One thing about the Levitra that you should see over the next few months is that the spokesman is actually going to come from the NFL, so all of the campaigns, the direct-to-consumer advertising you're going to see will actually probably coincide with the start of the NFL season.
You'll remember now, Viagra actually relying on both Bob Dole as well as Major League Baseball to tout its product. Both of these products, again, are probably pretty similar in nature. Again, surprising over five years Viagra hasn't had any real competition. It's probably going to start later on this month in this country -- Bill.
HEMMER: And, as you well know, this is big business. They're saying by the year 2010 this could be $4 billion business worldwide.
GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's sort of interesting, because they predict that about a third of men have erectile dysfunction, but only 1 in 5 right now are seeking treatment. So, if there are more products available -- doctors are excited about a new option out there -- then there will be probably an increase in sales as well -- $1.7 billion now. If you get another product over the next month, you could increase that significantly.
Also, I should mention as well, Bill, there is another product that's also in the works. So, you could have three products by the end of the year. That new product is called Cialis. So, this is sort of an interesting product, because this one is actually touted to work longer than either Viagra or Levitra. In fact, it can work up to 36 hours. It's being called in Europe "the weekender," actually lasting an entire weekend. That approval for that drug might come in this country by the end of the year as well.
Really quick, Bill, whenever talking about these medications, it's important to talk about the potential side effects as well. There are side effects of these medications. They are considered generally safe. But if the medication is taken, some side effects that could be expected: headaches, facial flushing, stomach upset, nasal stuffiness, bluish hue to vision.
Now, with Levitra, that can be taken on an empty stomach. Viagra, one of the problems people have touted is that it has to be taken with food, which makes it a little bit more limited -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thank you, Sanjay. See you next hour. Sanjay Gupta in Atlanta.
GUPTA: See you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired August 19, 2003 - 07:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Medical news right now. The FDA is about to approve the impotence drug, Levitra, as an alternative to Viagra. Will the orange pill give the little blue pill a run for its money? And there's a lot of money at stake here.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center takes us through this one.
Good morning -- Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Yes, you know, it's sort of surprising it hasn't happened sooner -- that is, a rival to Viagra. It's a very, very popular drug around the world and a very financially lucrative drug as well -- $1.7 billion in global sales of Viagra alone last year.
They say about nine pills are popped every second of this particular pill. So, no question then that it's a very popular drug, and that a rival was sort of in the works. And that rival comes in the form of Levitra, which may gain FDA approval later on this month -- that's 50 trials involving 6,000 men later.
Now, just a little bit of history. First of all, you'll remember, Bill, we've talked about this before, but when Viagra was first being studied, it wasn't being studied to treat impotence. It was being studied to treat chest pain, actually. This drug actually works by dilating some of the blood vessels in the body. And both of these drugs probably work in similar mechanisms.
Now, Levitra, again, has been around the world already. It's been in the 30 European countries. FDA approval is expected later on this month.
A couple of things as well about this. There has been -- these two drugs work sort of the same way. They both sort of work by dilating the blood vessels around the body. They probably have similar side effects as well.
One thing about the Levitra that you should see over the next few months is that the spokesman is actually going to come from the NFL, so all of the campaigns, the direct-to-consumer advertising you're going to see will actually probably coincide with the start of the NFL season.
You'll remember now, Viagra actually relying on both Bob Dole as well as Major League Baseball to tout its product. Both of these products, again, are probably pretty similar in nature. Again, surprising over five years Viagra hasn't had any real competition. It's probably going to start later on this month in this country -- Bill.
HEMMER: And, as you well know, this is big business. They're saying by the year 2010 this could be $4 billion business worldwide.
GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's sort of interesting, because they predict that about a third of men have erectile dysfunction, but only 1 in 5 right now are seeking treatment. So, if there are more products available -- doctors are excited about a new option out there -- then there will be probably an increase in sales as well -- $1.7 billion now. If you get another product over the next month, you could increase that significantly.
Also, I should mention as well, Bill, there is another product that's also in the works. So, you could have three products by the end of the year. That new product is called Cialis. So, this is sort of an interesting product, because this one is actually touted to work longer than either Viagra or Levitra. In fact, it can work up to 36 hours. It's being called in Europe "the weekender," actually lasting an entire weekend. That approval for that drug might come in this country by the end of the year as well.
Really quick, Bill, whenever talking about these medications, it's important to talk about the potential side effects as well. There are side effects of these medications. They are considered generally safe. But if the medication is taken, some side effects that could be expected: headaches, facial flushing, stomach upset, nasal stuffiness, bluish hue to vision.
Now, with Levitra, that can be taken on an empty stomach. Viagra, one of the problems people have touted is that it has to be taken with food, which makes it a little bit more limited -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thank you, Sanjay. See you next hour. Sanjay Gupta in Atlanta.
GUPTA: See you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
