A joint venture between ICOS and Eli Lilley produced the medication Cialis.  ICOS is a small biotech company based in Washington State, in the City of Bothell, while Eli Lilly is a internationally known Indianapolis pharmaceuticals company.  From early on the two companies realized that Cialis would bring help to men suffering impotence they created a partnership which is owned jointly by both companies.  Their corporate website advises that the partnership was formed “to develop and commercialize phosphodietrase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5s). Cialis was the first drug successfully brought to the market by this joint venture.”

The formation of ICOS was in 1990 and shortly afterwards researchers discovered that the key to retaining an erection was a substance called cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and Cialis is a medicine that preserves elevated levels of cGMP which are created when a man is sexually stimulated. Being one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world Eli Lilley have an extensive research and development department. Naturally they screen their partnerships with smaller companies such as ICOS very carefully and take the responsibility of their company seriously when it comes to developing new drugs for the consumer. Eli Lilly recognised that ICOS had something special when they entered into talks about Cialis in the early 2002. Now the partnership of Eli Lilly and ICOS has developed and is offering Cialis to many nations all over the world.

Cialis was approved by the FDA in November 2003 for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and is available by prescription only.  Some of the more common side effects that may be experienced with Cialis are headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. As with any erectile dysfunction medication, in the rare event of priapism (an erection lasting more than four hours), medical attention should be sought to avoid long-term injury. The company is aware of these conditions and they are currently doing studies to determine risk factors and ways to reduce and where possible eliminate the current side effects.

It is important to understand that Cialis does not protect a man or his partner from sexually transmitted diseases,  including HIV. Cialis only works with normal sexual stimulation and it is not intended that a man can take the drug and obtain an erection immediately ensuring that Cialis enhances the sexual experience.

Cialis was introduced into Europe in 2003 and it is the biggest selling erectile dysfunction treatment in France, worldwide the drug is used by millions of men.