Chattem CEO Zan Guerry announces that his company will manufacture, market and distribute Cialis if it becomes an over-the-counter drug.ABOUT CIALIS• First approved by European Medicines Agency in 2002 to treat erectile dysfunction• U.S. Food and Drug Administration OKs use in 2003• Now approved in 120 countries• Sales hit $2.16 billion worldwide in 2013• 45 million men have used CialisSource: Sanofi
Chattanooga-based Chattem will take on the most important product launch of its 135-year history if company officials win regulatory approval to switch erectile dysfunction medicine Cialis from prescription to over-the-counter sales.
“It will be a big deal,” Chattem Chief Executive Zan Guerry said Wednesday about Cialis, which last year garnered more than $2.1 billion in global sales.
Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical giant that owns Chattem, and drug-maker Eli Lilly and Co. have agreed to pursue regulatory approval, with the Chattanooga company taking the lead in the switch. Terms of the licensing agreement weren’t announced.
Chattem and Sanofi first need to earn the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s OK and patents must expire, which all could take three to four years, according to the companies.