Development of Oral Erectile Dysfunction Treatment

After 비아그라 정품 (Sildenafil), which was called the last invention of the 20th century, was released in Korea in 1998, oral erectile dysfunction treatment has not only been established as the primary treatment for erectile dysfunction in Korea but also the paradigm of diagnosis and treatment of erectile dysfunction has changed. Up to now, three types of oral erectile dysfunction drugs, 비아그라 정품, Cialis, and Levitra, for oral erectile dysfunction have been sold worldwide. Six types of oral erectile dysfunction drugs are being used.

Meanwhile, after the expiration of the domestic substance patent of sildenafil in 2012, numerous domestic pharmaceutical companies have jumped into the production of generic drugs, and about 60 products of 49 brands and 4 formulations (tablets, films, granules, and chewable) have been produced and sold. Since the expiration of the domestic substance patent of tadalafil in 2015, about 160 types of tadalafil generic drugs have been produced and sold.   

In particular, since tadalafil can be administered daily in low doses, various types of new and improved complex drugs based on tadalafil are being developed, which has a profound impact on the domestic pharmaceutical industry. In addition, various types of placebos are still on the market, causing confusion for both doctors and patients. Therefore, in this chapter, the development process, current status, and future prospects of oral erectile dysfunction drugs are to be investigated.

It is not an exaggeration

to say that the rapid development of modern medicine started in the 1980s and occurred in almost all fields in the 1990s. In fact, among the medical fields, it can be said that there are few fields that have developed as rapidly as male medicine and the treatment of erectile dysfunction. In the field of male science in Korea, the Korean Society of Male Gynecology was established in 1982, opening a new chapter in the diagnosis and treatment of erectile dysfunction patients in Korea.

Until the 1970s, the cause of erectile dysfunction was considered to be psychogenic and treated as a psychiatric disease. A vacuum aspirator was also developed. In particular, Korea's economic development and globalization, gender openness, rapid medical development, and multinational pharmaceutical companies' full-fledged entry into Korea after the 1988 Olympic Games have led to a turning point in the domestic medical industry and pharmaceutical industry.

Along with these changes in the environment, as a drug treatment for erectile dysfunction, intracavernous injection therapy of injectable vasodilators was developed in the 1990s, and erectile dysfunction patients began to seek urology in earnest. A formulation was also developed and started to be used as an adjuvant treatment for erectile dysfunction patients.

Since the launch of 비아그라 정품 in Korea in 1999, most treatments are available according to the level of erectile dysfunction, from oral drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction patients, intracavernous injections, and penile implants, and vacuum inhalers and hormones. became

In the 2000s, various types of second sildenafil have been continuously developed, while centrally acting therapeutic agents such as apomorphine, urethral suppositories, and various formulations of testosterone and premature ejaculation have been developed and used. Meanwhile, in 1990, world-renowned sexologist Dr. Tom Lue said that since treatment is the goal of most erectile dysfunction patients, only the tests necessary for the treatment desired by the patient are sufficient. 

In fact, only when there are legal problems such as physical feelings, are all detailed examinations such as nighttime erection test, erection induction test, and special examination of the vascular system and nervous system conducted. The self-reported International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), which is currently the most widely used screening test for erectile dysfunction patients, was developed to be used as an evaluation index for sildenafil-approved clinical trials.