Markets

Will the Obesity Epidemic Spur a New ED Pill Just for Diabetics? One Drug Company Seems to Think So

By Jim Edwards

Updated on: June 8, 2010 / 3:32 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

Vivus (VVUS)'s latest study of its new erectile dysfunction drug contains a big clue as to why the company wants to launch a new ED product after Viagra goes generic: It's targeting diabetics, more than half of whom can't perform, the company claims.

Previously, it was not clear that a fourth ED drug could be a money maker. In 2012, the ED drug market will be decimated as cheap copies of Pfizer (PFE)'s Viagra flood the market. How could Vivus's avanafil possibly compete? The company's new study looks at 390 men with diabetes -- which suggests that Vivus may ask the FDA for a diabetes-specific indication for the drug, something that Viagra et al don't have. (It's also claiming that it works faster.)

The move is another reminder that America's obesity epidemic may be bad for its national health, but it sure is providing a lot of opportunities for companies seeking to profit from it.

Thus men with diabetes should prepare themselves for a wave of humiliating advertising if Vivus gets its way. The company claims 58 percent of diabetic men have ED. This study estimates at least 50 percent have it. (In Iran, the rate could be as high as 82.5 percent.)

Whether avanafil will be helpful for male diabetics is still an open question. This is the second Vivus study showing that avanafil works, but it's also the second study showing that it's not a complete success. The drug is certainly better than a placebo (but note how successfully the men taking a placebo performed -- they doubled their success rate!)

Patients' progress up the comprehensively titled "Erectile Function Domain of the International Index of Erectile Function" scale was fairly modest, with the men on the higher dose only making it into the "mild/minimal" impairment category by 0.3 percent. Everyone else remained moderately impaired despite the drug.

Drill down in the company's data and you'll see that only 34-40 percent of the men actually managed to have sex. That's even less than the 57 percent of men who managed it last time. Again, you can add in your own assumptions about how accurately men self-record their failure to get it on.

Related:

Image by Flickr user motleypixel, CC