According to HealthLine.com, major pharmaceutical companies have been developing and testing creams that contain alprostadil, a drug already widely used in penile injection therapy to overcome erectile dysfunction. However, as of early 2014, the FDA had not yet approved any of these creams for sale in the United States.
Already available on the Canadian and European markets, Vitaros is a cream formulation of alprostadil that is manufactured by Apricus Biosciences, headquartered in San Diego, California. While acknowledging that the PDE5 inhibitors currently on the market are generally effective in treating erectile dysfunction, Apricus points out that they do have some side effects, such as headache, vision and hearing impairment, and muscle aches, that are generally mild but tend to be more problematic for some users.
Vitaros is applied directly to the penis and produces rapid results, according to Apricus, which notes that the topical cream has been tested for efficacy and safety in more than 3,000 patients.