Researchers Develop Viagra Nasal Spray

For men who just can’t wait an hour for their Viagra fix, two University of Kentucky researchers offer hope: a Viagra nasal spray. Lewis Dittert and Anwar Hussain, researchers at the school’s College of Pharmacy, say they’ve created the first soluble version of Viagra’s active ingredient, sildenafil. They say the spray could enable Viagra to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream, offering a quicker hit--10 to 15 minutes--with a lower dose than the anti-impotency pills on the market. The pills can take an hour or more to take effect because their active ingredient is not very water-soluble. There’s just one catch: Dittert and Hussain cannot market their idea without permission from New York-based drug giant Pfizer Inc., which owns all rights to Viagra and sildenafil. The researchers said they would like to collaborate with Pfizer in marketing the spray, but Pfizer said it isn’t interested, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper.