Impotence pill sales figures droop as the market softens

Sales of impotence drugs have declined as fewer men are willing to use the medications and as oft-televised commercials for the products become less effective, the New York Times has reported.

Combined worldwide sales of the three drugs - Viagra, Cialis and Levitra - reached about US$2.5 billion ($3.5 billion) last year, though the number of new prescriptions has declined this year, including a 10 per cent drop in October, the newspaper said in a story published online.

About half of men over the age of 40 may have mild or occasional impotence, yet only about 15 per cent of them get prescriptions for Viagra, Cialis or Levitra in a given year, the newspaper said, citing estimates from Pfizer Inc, the maker of Viagra.

"The idea that every man with erectile dysfunction is going to want to take one of these pills - I think that's not accurate," the Times quoted Dr Abraham Morgentaler of the Harvard Medical School as saying.

So-called recreational use of the drugs by younger men may also have peaked, the newspaper said.

Analysts forecast for sales of Viagra alone to be as high as $4.5 billion ($6.3 billion) in 2004 after the drug had sales of more than $1 billion in 1999.

Last year, sales of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra combined amounted to $2.5 billion ($3.5 billion).

- BLOOMBERG