Move Over Viagra, Here Comes Levitra

(AP)  German drug maker Bayer won approval Friday to sell a new impotence drug across the European Union that it hopes will win business from Pfizer's breakthrough blockbuster Viagra.

Bayer expects Levitra, which it is marketing with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, to bring in up to $1.1 billion a year, once it secures approval in the United States. Bayer said the round, orange pills would go on sale in Germany later this month. U.S. approval is expected later this year.

"This is an extremely important step for our pharmaceuticals business," chief executive Werner Wenning said. "We believe that Levitra has the potential to become a new blockbuster."

The battle for dominance in a condition that affects about one in five men is expected to be fierce. Cialis, a drug from Eli Lilly & Co. and Icos Corp. won European approval last year and is also expected to hit pharmacies in the United States later this year.

All the drugs work in the same manner so some doctors believe it may be difficult for Levitra and Cialis to establish themselves when Viagra has been around for five years. Other say the drugs are an option for those whose conditions aren't helped by Viagra.

Sales of Pfizer's blue, diamond-shaped Viagra pills totaled $1.7 billion last year. It is the only significant prescription product for erectile dysfunction.

"We think the competition will expand the overall market. Erectile dysfunction is still underdiagnosed," said a Pfizer spokeswoman. "But in the end, we think patients will choose Viagra because it has a track record."

Leverkusen-based Bayer has a lot riding on Levitra. It is still suffering from the 2001 withdrawal of the cholesterol lowering drug Lipobay, marketed in the United States as Baycol, after it was linked to dozens of deaths.

The Lipobay withdrawal, which was followed by a raft of lawsuits, was the worst in a string of setbacks that have cut deep into Bayer's earnings and depressed its share price. The company, which invented Aspirin and also makes anthrax treatment Cipro, said last year it was prepared to merge its drugs business with a larger rival.

Bayer recently launched a new treatment for urinary tract infections in the United States, and said it will soon introduce a new drug for hypertension in five European countries.

"We regard the developments in recent months as clear signs of progress in our pharmaceuticals business," Wenning said.

Bayer shares were down 0.6 percent at $13.23 by late afternoon on the Frankfurt exchange.