Oral drug therapy for erectile dysfunction.

Oral drugs are a well-established, first-line therapy for erectile dysfunction. As a result of the success of sildenafil, a plethora of new drugs for erectile dysfunction are on the horizon. Apomorphine and IC351 are in late phase III development. Vardenafil (Bayer, New Haven, CT), a PDE5 inhibitor, and the combination of yohimbine and L-arginine (NitroMed, Boston, MA) are in early phase III development. Early clinical and preclinical studies are investigating new phosphodiesterase inhibitors, cyclic AMP activators, alpha-adrenergic antagonists, dopamine agonists, melanocyte-stimulating hormone, potassium channel modulators, endothelin antagonists, and new nitric oxide donors. The future is bright for this infant field of sexual pharmacotherapy.