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"Weekender" Cialis promises China marital bliss
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By Kirby Chien and Jerker (write your own jokes folks) Hellstrom
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Eli Lilly & Co., maker of
impotence drug Cialis, hopes that Chinese couples who
might resort to traditional aphrodisiacs or divorce
court to resolve sexual problems will seek marital
bliss with its own remedy.
The U.S. drugmaker launched a marketing campaign for
Cialis in the world's most populous country on
Thursday with the release of a survey showing that 45
percent of middle-aged Chinese couples had experienced
erectile dysfunction problems.
Since only one-third of those couples had thought
about seeking treatment, Lilly believes that efforts
to boost awareness of the problem would increase sales
of Cialis, whose long-lasting effects have given it
the nickname "the weekender."
"This drug is effective, because men are like light
bulbs. They can be turned on and off easily. Women are
like irons, they need a long time to heat up, but also
a long time to cool down," said psychologist Qiu
Xiaolan, brought in as part of Lilly's media campaign
to educate the public.
Cialis, which has been distributed to 5,000 Chinese
pharmacies this month, is effective for up to 36
hours, longer than rival drugs on the market, Lilly
says.
"It's a longer window of opportunity," Eli Lilly China
President Jorg Ostertag told a news briefing.
About 35 million Chinese men suffer from some form of
erectile dysfunction, Lilly said. Nearly 10 percent of
these will eventually look for some sort of treatment,
mainly in pharmacies.
FAMILY HARMONY
Erectile dysfunction is common among men with
diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol
levels, and has historically been treated in China
with traditional medicines containing herbs or animal
parts such as tiger penis and rhinoceros horns.
"Erectile dysfunction has become a serious issue. It
not only threatens men's health, but also challenges
family relationships and harmony," Ostertag said.
A local court in south China granted a divorce to a
woman who remained a virgin after four years of
marriage due to her husband's apparent sexual
dysfunction, Xinhua news agency reported in October.
More than 10 percent of divorce cases center on sexual
dysfunction, Xinhua quoted a judge with the court in
south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region as
saying.
The Supreme People's Court has ruled that sexual
dysfunction that cannot be cured is proper grounds for
divorce, Xinhua said.
Industry estimates for China's market for impotence
drugs range from 500 million yuan to as much as 2
billion yuan a year ($65 million to $260 million).
Cialis, although growing faster globally than Viagra,
still lags its rival, which was launched in China by
Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, in 2000.
Levitra, an impotence drug developed jointly by Bayer
AG, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Schering-Plough Corp., is
also available in China.
Pfizer does not disclose sales figures for Viagra in
China but global revenues from of the drug rose 1
percent to $1.7 billion last year.
Worldwide sales of Lilly's Cialis jumped 30 percent to
$971 million.
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