PATIENTS CLAMOR FOR IMPOTENCE DRUG

NEW YORK (AP) -- A new pill has swept the market for impotence drugs,
accounting for 8 in 10 new prescriptions and nearly tripling the number of
men seeking cures.

Pfizer Inc.'s drug, Viagra, captured a whopping 79 percent of the market
during its second week of sales, ended April 10, according to IMS America,
a research information company that released the figures Monday. The drug
had 5 percent of the market during limited availability the previous week,
and Pfizer didn't expect it to be widely available until April 15.

The number of impotence prescriptions patients filled in the United States
jumped from a total of 20,106 in the week ended April 3 to 54,474 in the
week ended April 10, IMS said.

Although the drug started hitting pharmacy shelves earlier this month, many
druggists haven't gotten their first shipment and doctors are still
evaluating the latest impotence treatment. But patients aren't waiting to
get in line.

Atlanta urologist John Stripling wore out his hand writing 500
prescriptions in two weeks. Now he's using a rubber stamp to prescribe the
pill.

``I've never seen such interest in a prescription drug in all of my years
of medicine,'' said Stripling, who had 300 people waiting when for the drug
to become available and is getting 25 calls a day from interested patients.

Duke University Medical School urologist Craig Donatucci has given up
answering calls on the new pill for impotence.

Patients asking about Viagra now get a recorded message: ``Because of the
volume of patient calls for Viagra, Dr. Donatucci is unable to take phone
calls concerning this new drug.''

Donatucci said he's written 150 prescriptions and is scheduling
appointments for those who get his message.

Doctors and drug industry analysts expect Viagra to eclipse competing
impotence nostrums within months.

The drug owes its marketability less to what it does than to what it
doesn't do: make strong men wince. Existing impotence drugs must be either
injected into the penis or inserted directly into the urinary tract, both
unpopular delivery methods.

Few of the 30 million men who suffer from erectile dysfunction now do
anything about it. The problem gets worse as men age. Two men in five have
problems getting an erection at age 40. Nearly seven in 10 do at age 70.
Pfizer estimates the number of men coping with impotence worldwide at 140
million.

The drug should bring Pfizer $300 million in sales during the rest of the
year, said Mariola Hagger, an analyst with Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. Many
analysts expect it to bring in more than $1 billion in annual sales after
2000.

``It doesn't make you 21 again, but it does solve the problem,'' said
Robert W. Shay, a 70-year-old Los Angeles resident who took part in
clinical trials of the drug from 1996 to 1997.

Shay, who used to take performance-boosting injections, said Viagra works
about as well as the shots but is more discrete and less painful.

The drug Pfizer tested on British university students was supposed to work
as a treatment for angina, raising blood flow to the heart. But the rush of
blood filled another organ instead. Pfizer decided that one man's
side-effect was another man's cure and developed it as an impotence
treatment.

It remains one of only a handful of impotence drugs. Penile implants have
been available for years, the FDA only approved the first drug, Caverject,
in 1995. The injectable drug from Pharmacia & Upjohn Co.'s relaxes smooth
muscle in the penis, allowing blood to flow in and cause an erection.

Unlike the injections, which can leave the user erect for an hour without
outside stimulation, Viagra allows the user to react normally to sexual
stimulation.

In December 1996, the FDA approved Muse, a suppository version of the same
drug, a synthetic form of the hormone prostaglandin E that is generically
called alprostadil. But Muse still left many users squeamish. To insert the
tiny medicated pellet, a slender plunger is pushed 1 1/2 inches into the
end of the penis.

Viagra could have further applications. Researchers are already looking at
whether Viagra could be used to treat women with sexual dysfunction.

Some doctors say they're worried that sexually potent men will use the drug
as a performance booster -- a kind of sexual steroid. A 52-year-old Viagra
user in Atlanta, who didn't want his name used, said that's what he'd do if
he didn't already need Viagra.

``If I was 16 or 17 and I could get ahold of the stuff, I would,'' he said.
``If it's not a miracle, it's as close as you can get.''