Modern medicine is truly miraculous. Illnesses and wounds which would have been fatal a few centuries ago are now easily treated. The fact that we now have cosmetic medicine is a testament to the improved quality of life we have come to expect from chemists, biologists and surgeons. Some of the drugs are essential to keep someone alive, others help alleviate headaches and runny noses and some… well, some drugs are taken for a variety of other reasons. Sometimes a new kind of medicine is designed to combat one ailment, only to discover that the public is interested in other aspects of the drug. I'm talking about Sildenafil, the drug studied for hypertension. The thing is, you probably know it by another name — Viagra.
Dr. Brian Klee, senior medical director at Pfizer, who commercialized Viagra, said in an interview to AFP:
Originally, we were testing sildenafil, the active drug in Viagra, as a cardiovascular drug for its ability to lower blood pressure. But one thing that was found during those trials is that people didn't want to give the medication back because of the side effect of having erections that were harder, firmer and lasted longer.''
So, the company did the only sensible thing it could — instead of focusing on branding Viagra as relief for hypertension or developing other drugs, it seized the sudden the opportunity and essentially created a new market. Just like Apple could be credited for creating a market of true smartphones, with the iPhone dominating the market in the second half of the 2000s, Viagra sales accounted for over 90% of the global market for erectile dysfunction pills.
The pill's overwhelming popularity actually had a significant impact on society. The issue of erectile dysfunction has transformed from a taboo subject, to a more commonly accepted problem, something that's part of life and can be dealt with. Depending on age, up to 70% of men have encountered this condition — which is in no way new — and before Viagra the problem could not be easily treated by just taking a pill. Other procedures were invasive and the whole subject was painfully embarrassing.
A notable milestone was when Bob Dole, US presidential candidate in the 1996 election, became a spokesperson for the repurposed drug. Arthur Caplan argues in the article "Ethical Implications of Drugs for Erectile Dysfunction" in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics:
Ultimately, Viagra took the taboo out of impotence. Former presidential candidate and Kansas Senator Bob Dole admitted in national advertisements that he suffered from erectile dysfunction. Once he and his wife appeared in these commercials, it became easier for many men and indeed for American culture to acknowledge male sexual dysfunction. Having an easy-to-use treatment transformed the embarrassment and silence that surrounded impotence into far more open, frank, and even sometimes funny discussions of the malady.
Thus, the failed drug which could not adequately perform as originally intended, has found new life due to its side effects. It was a solution that no one expected, creating a new market, challenging societal stereotypes and, of course, making the lives of millions of men more enjoyable.
