Cialis, the erectile dysfunction drug that is a strong rival to the market leader Viagra is selling well and the companies that produce it in a joint venture (ICOS and Eli Lilly) recently released a statement showing that Cialis produced a first quarter profit in 2006 of sixty five million dollars. Cialis can claim to be the best selling erectile dysfunction drug in eleven countries worldwide.

Cialis is continuing to promote its efficacy and advantages over Viagra and this led it to claim the top spot in another 6 countries over the past year and to manage to produce a healthy profit compared to a forty million dollar loss last year. The profit was not just due to sales rising but also due to a reduction in underlying costs and management but nevertheless shows that the market for Cialis is growing and may still grow at a good rate.

Industry analysts were not expecting such good results for this first quarter and the forecast was below the eventually reported sales figure of over two hundred and twenty million dollars representing close to a 50% increase in sales over the like for like period last year. The biggest gains were seen in America where the sales of Cialis practically doubled compared to the previous year.

Lilly-ICOS are hoping to get sales of around nine hundred million dollars overall by the end of 2006. Lilly-ICOS suggests that Cialis is sold for about eleven dollars for a tablet in the US and while that is higher than the price of both Viagra and Levitra, the company is keen to point out that Cialis is designed to last for up to 36 hours whereas the other 2 are only designed for 4 hours of bettered sexual function. 

Viagra still takes over half of the erectile dysfunction market on its own and so Cialis has a little more catching up to do if it wants to be the worldwide No.1 erectile dysfunction drug and knock Viagra off its perch.