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During the early to the mid 1990s, drug companies worldwide promoted certain advancements in the area of developing compounds that inhibit PDE5, or phosphodiesterase type 5 enzyme. A biotechnology firm based in Bothell, Washington, ICOS Corporation, began studies pertaining to the compound IC351, which inhibits the presence of the PDE5 enzyme in the human body. At that time, ICOS, in cooperation with Glaxo Wellcome, still did not have conclusive evidence of what good inhibiting PDE5 does to the body. A year later, another pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, discovered another compound that inhibits the PDE5 enzyme. According to a clinical study conducted by Pfizer, sildenafil citrate, which Pfizer included in heart medicine, caused another effect in male patients with heart problems. They experienced penile erection. This was when ICOS recognized the potential effect that their own compound, IC351, can have on patients with ED, or erectile dysfunction, besides having a notable effect on heart patients. In 1994, a patent for the IC351 was received by ICOS, after it was founded out that it was different structurally from the sildenafil compound of Pfizer's. ICOS began clinical trials in 1995, with Phase 2 trials on men experiencing ED two years later. Phase 3 trials went ahead later, supporting the FDA approval of the drug. The partnership between Glaxo and ICOS fell through as Glaxo felt that the development of this drug is not in their priorities. The agreement was lapsed by Glaxo in 1996, forfeiting the agreed 50 percent share in the future profits between Glaxo and ICOS for the drug that was just a few years away from FDA approval. ICOS then formed a partnership with another American pharmaceutical company, Indiana-based firm Eli Lilly in 1998, forming the Lilly ICOS, LLC. One of the company's foremost projects was to develop and produce compound IC351, with Tadalafil as its generic name, to treat cases of ED. In the year 2000, Lilly ICOS, LLC, filed to the FDA a New Drug Application for Tadalafil, to be marketed under the brand name Cialis. In 2002, Lilly ICOS showed proof of Generic Cialis, Tadalafil, as a cure for ED with up to 36 hours effectiveness to the American Urological Association. A year later, the United Stated Food and Drug Administration approved Tadalafil, the generic Cialis brand. Since 2007, Eli Lilly and Company owns Cialis and the generic Cialis name, Tadalafil. This happened when Eli Lilly bought the ICOS Corporation in 2007 for $2.3 billion. Upon acquisition of ICOS, Eli Lilly officially ended the joint venture, closed the operations of ICOS, and terminated the employment of close to 500 ICOS employees, save for 127 ICOS employees in its biologics facility. Eventually, the biologics arm of ICOS was sold to another firm, CMC Biopharmaceuticals, which was based in Denmark.
When the drug came out, people with the surname "Cialis" complained of the use of their last name as the name of a drug to cure erectile dysfunction. Eli Lilly, however has denied the connection between the Cialis brand and the last name.
For more information on Tadalafil, visit Generic Cialis resource site.
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