This file photo shows a building housing Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Tokyo. (Mainichi)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — The Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company SSP Co. is set to offer Cialis as Japan’s first over-the-counter erectile dysfunction treatment drug.
A health ministry panel on Thursday approved the tablet as a non-prescription drug, though purchases can be permitted only after a pharmacist confirms the customer is at least 18 years old.
Beginning in May next year, the tablet, whose generic name is tadalafil, will also be available for purchase on the internet after an online briefing by a pharmacist.
The regulatory approval comes amid calls for a non-prescription option given the psychological pressure some men feel about seeing a doctor to seek ED treatment, as well as the risk of receiving fraudulent or contaminated drugs in attempts to order the medication from overseas vendors.
Possible side effects include hypersensitivity, muscle pain and headache.
The same type of ED treatment has been approved as an OTC medicine in Britain and three other European countries, according to the ministry.