Quay Street Productions\/Tom Jackson<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Dr Price is a consultant physician at Morriston Hospital in Swansea who began to explore the treatments and causes of impotence in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote a leading article in the British Medical Journal in 1993, saying impotence is the most neglected complication of diabetes and we had to change that,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result of that article, I was approached by Pfizer, who had this new drug. [They] had this drug which is designed to treat cardiovascular disease and men refused to turn in their unused tablets because their sex lives improved so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Did the Wales clinical trial in Men Up really take place?<\/strong><\/h2>\n $\"Colin$ \n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>\n
In the film, the clinical trial takes place in Swansea in 1994, and that is exactly what happened in real life \u2013 at Morriston Hospital in the town.<\/p>\n
It was the first clinical trial of Viagra anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe set up the first trials in 1994, and it was clear then after the first patient, we had something special,\u201d Dr Price remembers. \u201cWe had these ordinary middle-aged Swansea men who were able to have sex for the first time in years after just taking a tablet. The rest is history \u2013 it just took off.\u201d<\/p>\n
When did Viagra become widely available?<\/strong><\/h2>\n $\"Cast$ \n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Quay Street Productions\/Tom Jackson<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Men Up focuses on the very first clinical trial of the drug, but there were many more trials and tests before the infamous \u201clittle blue pill\u201d became available to the public.<\/p>\n
Viagra \u2013 the brand name for the drug that is also known as Sildenafil \u2013 was patented in 1996, two years after the Welsh trial, and approved for use in erectile dysfunction in March 1998 in the US and later in the same year in the UK and Europe.<\/p>\n
Since then, it has been a huge success for Pfizer, with annual sales in 2008 reaching $1.9 billion.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just been used as treatment for erectile dysfunction, either \u2013 athletes have reportedly used the drug (which increases blood flow) as a performance enhancer, while a 2007 study on hamsters<\/a> proved that it could be used to treat jet lag recovery.<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly due to its success, Sildenafil is also one of the most counterfeited drugs \u2013 with Interpol reporting<\/a> in October that erectile dysfunction medicines were the most seized counterfeit drugs around the world this year.<\/p>
Men Up is on BBC One on Friday 29th December at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0 TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0 Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0 The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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