- Andrew McMains and Eleftheria Parpis

NEW YORK  Euro RSCG has landed lead creative duties on Levitra, an erectile dysfunction drug co-marketed by Schering-Plough and GlaxoSmithKline, the former confirmed this afternoon.

The brand's major media spending last year totaled $70 million, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Havas' Euro RSCG was said to be among three New York agencies that pitched the business. The other contenders could not immediately be identified. Euro RSCG had no immediate comment, but a Schering-Plough representative confirmed the hire.

The new agency succeeds Omnicom Group's BBDO here, which had handled the brand since 2005. BBDO did not defend the account.

Media duties, at Publicis Groupe's MediaVest (planning) and WPP Group's MediaCom (buying), were not in play and remain at their respective shops, said sources.

Euro has become Levitra's fourth lead creative agency since its launch in 2003. The brand's shops before BBDO were Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi Consumer Healthcare in New York and WPP Group's Quantum Group in Parsippany, N.J.

BBDO's most recent work depicts men discussing the underlying health conditions that can cause erectile dysfunction. There is no tagline.

Levitra's competitors include Pfizer's Viagra and Eli Lilly's Cialis.