Eli Lilly, Sanofi Announce Plans To Make Cialis An OTC Drug
Eli Lilly, the drug producer of the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis, has announced that it is working on a plan with French drug maker Sanofi that would allow men to buy Cialis over the counter instead of having to go to the doctor and get a prescription first. Under the terms of the plan, Sanofi would gain the rights to sell the erectile dysfunction drug (after receiving approval) in the U.S., EU, Canada, and Australia. Cialis only has a few more years of patent protection in the U.S. and the EU; the drug is set to lose its patent protection in 2017. After the drug loses patent protection, it is expected that sales will drop significantly as patients will be granted access to cheap generic alternatives.
Although a move to make Cialis an over the counter drug would give it an advantage over other erectile dysfunction drugs in theory, The New York Times says, this is a process that is difficult to execute in practice. Viagra, the blockbuster erectile dysfunction drug produced by Pfizer, was not able to gain over the counter status in the EU in 2008 because of concerns raised by the European Medicines Agency. Many believe that a move to make Cialis an over the counter drug would run into many of the same issues. Cialis still has potential risks: it can cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure for some patients, and it can have potentially dangerous interactions with heart medications taken by certain patients. Not to mention, some health professionals believe that E.D. is a warning sign for other critical conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. For these reasons, some health advocates believe that no changes should be made to the drug’s prescription status.
However, David A. Ricks, the president of Lilly Bio-Medicines, commented on the potential partnership with Sanofi, saying, “Millions of men worldwide trust Cialis to treat E.D. We are pleased to work with Sanofi to pursue a path that could allow more men who suffer from E.D. to obtain convenient access to a safe and reliable product without a prescription.”
Cialis garnered $2.2 billion in worldwide sales last year. It was approved in the U.S. in 2003.