Was Lilly's Acquisition of Icos a "Retrograde Ejaculation"?

Eli Lilly - what were you thinking? Icos!?

From the WSJ, April 16:

Lilly booked $193.1 million in sales for erectile-dysfunction drug Cialis, versus $55.4 million a year earlier. Lilly gained full control of Cialis in late January when it acquired Icos for $2.3 billion. Recorded sales represent those for about two months of the quarter, from the date of the Icos purchase. Total Cialis sales for the entire quarter were $265.8 million, up 19% from a year earlier. Lilly had previously booked partial sales and income for the drug from its joint venture with Icos.

The Icos acquisition is expected to reduce Lilly's earnings this year but begin adding to profit in 2008.

Presumably Lilly wanted all the profits from Cialis, and when Icos was independent, Lilly had to share. But greed ruins so many things...doesn't it? Icos was just doing the Cialis marketing...so how much money was Lilly really missing out on?

Plus, man...the Icos baggage...

From a Press Release on Icos-Lilly synergy gains...(or lack thereof...)

"About Lilly ICOS LLC
Lilly ICOS LLC, a joint venture equally owned by ICOS and Lilly, is marketing Cialis in North America and Europe for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. ICOS Corporation, a biotechnology company headquartered in Bothell, Washington, is dedicated to bringing innovative therapeutics to patients. ICOS is working to develop treatments for serious unmet medical needs such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, pulmonary arterial hypertension, cancer, psoriasis
and inflammatory diseases".

So, if I have this right, Lilly wanted all the Cialis profits, so they agreed to acquire Icos' whole basket of pelvic-region and blood-disorder drug projects (pulmonary.../cancer/psoriasis/inflamm). But, was that really a good idea? Or should Lilly be more concerned about liability: keeping more players in the market, and avoiding consolidation so they'll share the blame on judgment day...? (And can't we all just sense an impending ED shakedown?)

A side note: Unlike researching sports cars , the pharmaceutical industry is a minefield of nightmare-inducing creepiness. For example -- a pulmonary arterial hypertension drug may...

"...cause ejaculation back into the bladder (retrograde ejaculation). This is not harmful."

Wow. Sometimes 'this is not harmful' doesn't quite cut through the unpleasantness in the previous sentence...

In any case, it'll be interesting to see if Lilly can turn this around...
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