Pfizer received approval from European regulators for Viagra to treat a life-threatening vascular disease

It has been approved to market Viagra as a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, a blood disorder of the lungs which causes high blood pressure in the arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs.

If left untreated, the lack of oxygen-rich blood could eventually lead to death. The disease, which affects about 100,000 people worldwide, primarily occurs in women between the ages of 20 to 40.

Viagra will be sold under the name Revatio and will be marketed as a round white pill to distinguish it from the blue colored diamond-shaped genuine Viagra.

The European approval was based on results from a double blind study of 278 patients, which showed "statistically significant improvements," said Pfizer in a statement. Revatio was given orphan drug status, which applies to rare and life-threatening disease that affect fewer than five in 10,000 people.

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