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Viagra, the market leader among erectile dysfunction drugs, was able to use its initial monopoly position before other products such as Cialis (Tadalafil), another popular erectile dysfunction drug, have already claimed some market share over the past few years. There are now other drugs that can help men, but more on that later.
First, let’s answer the question, how did a drug that was originally developed and tested to treat heart problems come to have an impact on so many people’s sex lives? To explain that, we need to look back at the development and milestones of the blue pill.
1989: British Pfizer scientists Peter Dunn and Albert Wood first developed sildenafil. A citrate they believed could be used in the treatment of high blood pressure and angina of the heart, and in the treatment of pain associated with coronary artery disease.
1991: dr Nicholas Terrett is named in the British patent for sildenafil citrate, also known as Viagra. The drug was still patented here as a heart drug. Terrett himself is often credited as the father of Viagra thanks to his role in the advancement of sildenafil citrate.
Early 90s: Pfizer is completing several early studies involving sildenafil citrate, but they show little promise for its potential use in treating heart disease. However, participants in the clinical trials reported an increase in erectile function that correlated with the intake and dose of the drug. Researcher Ian Osterloh reported: “Around the same time, other studies revealed previously unknown information about the biochemical pathway involved in the erection process”. Speaking to Cosmos magazine, he explained that this allowed them to understand how the drug could increase the effects of sexual stimulation by helping to open blood vessels in the penis. At the same time as the chances of treating cardiac angina dwindled, Osterloh and his team decided to carry out pilot studies on patients with erectile dysfunction.
1996: Pfizer patents sildenafil citrate in the United States.
March 1998: The FDA (Federal Drug Administration) approves the use of the drug Viagra to treat erectile dysfunction. According to estimates by experts, Viagra prescriptions worth more than 40,000 euros will be issued in the following weeks.
May 1998: TIME Magazine publishes the cover story: “The Potency Pill,” citing Penthouse founder Bob Guccione as saying he found Viagra liberated the American male libido from the emasculating doings of feminists. Feminists are not amused.
On CNN’s Larry King Live show, former presidential candidate Bob Dole admits he’s taking part in an experimental study for Viagra, calling Viagra “a great drug.”
June 1998: Newsweek names Viagra the ‘Hottest New Drug’. At this time, Viagra is only approved in the United States, Brazil, Morocco and Mexico. However, there are growing black market sales in several other countries, according to Newsweek’s reporting.
December 1998: Pfizer announces that they have hired Bob Dole for a television campaign aimed at raising awareness of male impotence.
The Washington Post reports that the CIA uses Viagra to make friends in Afghanistan. While the CIA has a long history of buying information for cash, it has resorted to other means in the fight against the growing Taliban insurgency. They have chosen to use novel incentives and creative negotiation to find support in some of the country’s roughest neighborhoods.
July 25, 1999: The popular TV show Sex and the City also discovers the drug and devotes an entire storyline to it, in which the character Samantha dates a wealthy older man who uses the little blue pills. In the next season, Samantha takes the little blue pill herself to improve her sex life.
Aug 19, 2003: FDA clears Bayer Corporation’s vardenafil hydrochloride, opening the way for Pfizer’s first competitors. The new drug is sold in the US under the brand name Levitra and is also used to treat erectile dysfunction in men.
November 21, 2003: The FDA approves next drug company Lilly to sell Tadalafil as Cialis to treat erectile dysfunction. The side effects of Cialis are similar to those of Viagra treatment and it is not recommended for men with heart problems or abnormal blood pressure.
2006: Rush Limbaugh, an American radio and television host, is detained at a Florida airport after a packet of Viagra was found in his luggage because the name on the prescription bottle doesn’t match his. Limbaugh’s attorney says, according to reports from Forbs, that his doctor prescribed him the Viagra under a different name.
2010: Actor Michael Douglas makes headlines when he admits to AARP magazine he uses erectile dysfunction medication with his wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. “Lucky she likes older men,” he says. “Some wonderful improvements have happened over the last few years – Viagra, Cialis – it can all make us feel younger again.”
April 2012: The FDA approves a new drug to treat erectile dysfunction called Avanafil. This is sold under the brand name Stendra and is taken as needed 30 minutes before sexual activity.
2013: The patent on Viagra, which is based on sildenafil, expires and thus enables the production of generics for the first time. This allows the same active ingredient to be marketed more cheaply under different product names, making it easier for many men to access a solution for erectile dysfunction.
The explanations and lists of possible treatment options are purely informative and do not replace consultation with your doctor or the explanations about the intake, mode of action and side effects from the product-specific leaflet.
Isabel D White
Isabel led the Royal Marsden Hospital (London) psychosexual therapy service until 2019. She works in partnership with individuals & couples to explore physical, emotional & relationship factors that contribute to sexual difficulties after cancer. These include: low desire, erection, arousal or orgasmic difficulties, sexual pain & sexual avoidance. She adopts an integrative approach to personalized therapy using psychosexual therapy (sensate focus framework), biomedical management (erectile dysfunction medication & devices, menopause & vaginal health strategies, sexual aids) & psychoeducation.
