Vivus Hires Credit Suisse as Sales Drop

Vivus Inc. said Tuesday it hired investment banker Credit Suisse First Boston to help it explore options, including selling itself, as the impotence-treatment maker has lost sales to Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra. The Mountain View-based company said one of the options under consideration is finding a large company to help market its Muse impotence treatment to the thousands of primary-care physicians who are prescribing Viagra. Vivus’ stock has fallen more than 80% in the last year. Doctors cut back on prescribing Muse, which requires men to insert a drug-laced pellet into the urethra. Vivus stock was unchanged at $4.75 on Nasdaq.