Eli Lilly unveils Viagra variant

Eli Lilly has finally launched TD-36 in India, the drug which is said to be an improvement over Viagra.

Launched through Shreya Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Moscow-based Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) Shreya Corporation, Eli Lilly expected to manufacture as many as 100,000 pills a day.

The company is also expecting to garner a 15 per cent market share in three years, worth about Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) in India.

At present, Viagra has around 70 per cent market share while ayurvedic drugs account for the balance. In addition, the company will have to fight with clones of the drug launched by Ajanta Pharmaceutical and Ranbaxy which will now also compete with TD-36 for they are similar in nature and effect.

TD-36 claimed to be an improvement over the first such drug, also comes at less cost -- Rs 16. From the Tadalafil group, the drug is supposed to act fast -- within 30 minutes and allows the patient 36 hours to choose the moment.

In the United States the drug has even acquired a nickname -- weekender due to its long hours of effect. Tadalafil has been licensed for usage in the United States and a number of European countries. The world over close to 150 million people suffer from dysfunction's requiring such drugs.

It is estimated that this figure is likely to double by 2025. Tadalafil is available as TD-36 for 10 mg and TD-36 XP for 20 mg. The manufacturers claim that it is safe for diabetics and hypertensive patients and has no interaction with food or moderate alcohol.