ED drug gets nod as pulmonary ailment

File in the "new uses for approved drugs" drawer, in the erectile dysfunction med folder: United Therapeutics has persuaded the FDA to approve Eli Lilly's ED med tadalafil as a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Marketed under the name Adcirca, the drug will compete with treatments from Pfizer (Revatio), Actelion (Tracleer), and Gilead Sciences (Letairis). And it's not the only ED-type med on this particular shelf; Revatio contains the same primary ingredient as Pfizer's bestselling ED drug.

United licensed tadalafil from Lilly for this new indication, and now that it has an FDA approval in hand, plans to launch Adcirca in August. The licensing deal allows United to market the drug for PAH in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It's expected to grab some market share from Pfizer's Revatio, analysts told Reuters.

ED drugs are being tested for all sorts of non-ED uses, usually as treatments for circulatory problems of one sort or another. Will this new indication be the last? Or not? What do you think?

- see United's release
- read the Bloomberg story
- see the article from Reuters

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