Bayer’s Levitra “is at least as good as Viagra”

Bayer has published the results of a new clinical trial that shows that Levitra, its treatment for erectile dysfunction, is “at least as good as Viagra”.

The non-inferiority study, entitled Confirmed, found that 38.9 per cent of men expressed a preference for Levitra over Viagra, compared to 34.5 per cent for Viagra and 26.6 per cent who had no preference.

Because this difference is not statistically significant, Bayer claims that this confirms the non-inferiority of its drug, which like Viagra, is a PDE5 inhibitor.

Additionally, “frequently used” efficacy measures demonstrated the nominal statistical superiority of Levitra over its Pfizer-manufactured rival, as more men taking Levitra responded to the sexual encounter profile questions positively, compared to those taking Viagra.

Irwin Goldstein, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Sexual Medicine and co-author of the study, remarked: “The Confirmed study represents an important step forward in our understanding of the clinical differences between PDE5 inhibitors, confirming the efficacy of Levitra for men with erectile dysfunction.”

In 2000, Eli Lilly and ICOS successfully invalidated Pfizer’s UK patent on PDE5 inhibitors, on account of it being too far-reaching.

As a result, Bayer has been able to market Levitra, while Lilly has developed Cialis, dubbed as the “weekend pill” because of its 36-hour effect.