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Dong-A Pharmaceutical Co. said Wednesday its erectile dysfunction drug DA-8159 received a permit from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a second round of clinical trials.
DA-8159, like other existing erectile dysfunction drugs, is a PDE5 enzyme inhibitor that increases blood flow to the penis. It has already passed a third round of clinical trials in Korea and is scheduled to hit the domestic market in September. The company said the drug has fewer side effects and is effective for longer than existing drugs.
It said the second round of clinical tests in the U.S. would be completed in 2006, and once it gets a new medication license around 2008-2009 the company would begin marketing DA-8159 worldwide.
The market for erectile dysfunction drugs is growing by 15 percent annually both domestically and overseas. Dong-A expects over W50 billion (US$50 million) annually domestically with exports of at least US$200 million annually as and when the drug hits the shelves.
The firm said that from 1997, it invested W12 billion in pure research -- excluding personnel costs -- into developing DA-8159, including W1.83 billion in support from the Ministry of Healthy and Welfare.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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