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Pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US to offer its erectile dysfunction drug Cialis (tadalafil) in a new daily dose.
Officials at the firm said the new version will make it easier for users as they will no longer have to plan their lives around the drug’s specific window of effectiveness.
The medication is also going to made available at a higher dose that provides a 36-hour window.
Eli Lilly marketing director Shawn Heffern said: “They’ve got a lot of pressure to perform, and the worst thing we can do is then put a shot clock on them or some limited amount of time where they need to have sex or otherwise it’s out of their system and doesn’t work.”
The company said in a statement that the daily dose is targeted at men who anticipate having sex twice a week or more frequently.
Cialis accounted for $798m in sales at the firm during the first nine months of last year. In 2006, it registered $971m for the full year, a 30% increase on 2005.
Mr Heffern said he expects the treatment will provide $1bn in sales for the whole of 2007, but declined to say how the new dose will affect the future revenue stream.
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