A new anti-impotence drug should be tested on Asian men before it is introduced in Hong Kong, urologists have warned.
The drug, Uprima, is expected to be approved in the US and the European Union. The manufacturers, Abbott Laboratories (US) and Takeda Chemical Industries, anticipate it will be available in Hong Kong by the end of next year - but there is no requirement that it be tested locally.
'We intend to file an application with the Government by the middle of this year and, depending on the approval, we anticipate Uprima will be on the market by the end of 2002,' said Abbott Laboratories' marketing director Pingo Luk.
However, SAR urologists are concerned about the side effects of the drug, such as vomiting and nausea, and say it first needs to be tested on Asian men.
'The potential side effects of Uprima are a worrying thing. The drug can produce nausea, sweating, vomiting - and yawning,' said Dr Andrew Yip Wai-chun, a consultant urologist at Kwong Wah Hospital.
'There haven't been any trials on Asian men, which is a worry because of the differences between Western and Asian men, such as the metabolism. If they really want to introduce it in Hong Kong, a pilot trial would be necessary.'
Dr Yip estimates that about 10 per cent of Hong Kong's men, or 200,000, suffer from erectile dysfunction.
