US approve anti-impotence drug

The US Food and Drug Administration today cleared the way for the latest competitor to blockbuster anti-impotence drug Viagra.

The FDA gave the go-ahead to an impotence remedy, Cialis, from pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and biotechnology firm Icos Corp.

The drug is already approved in Europe.

In August, UK-based GlaxoSmithKline and German-based Bayer won FDA approval to sell their anti-impotence drug, Levitra, in the US.

GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer have mounted an aggressive marketing campaign to wrestle some of Viagra's $1.7bn (€1.42bn) annual sales.