Lilly to Buy Cialis Partner Icos

When the deal closes, Lilly will take a one-time charge, but the company said "it is premature to estimate what that charge will be." Lilly expects the acquisition to be "modestly dilutive" to next year's earnings.

Aside from its treatment for erectile dysfunction, Cialis is being studied as a treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia -- an enlargement of the prostate gland -- and pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare and dangerous condition that causes high blood pressure in blood vessels leading from the heart to the lungs.

There are several PAH drugs on the market or in development. Pfizer's Revatio, which includes the same main ingredient in Viagra, is sold for PAH. Testing for Cialis as a PAH drug is now in final-stage clinical trials.

For benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, testing is in the second stage of clinical trials. BPH, which often results in urination problems, is a common condition that affects men as they age. A number of BPH drugs are on the market, including offerings from Pfizer, Merck(MRK), GlaxoSmithKline(GSK) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY). BPH also can be treated by surgery or less invasive treatments.

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