Viagra may one day be a thing of the past, as scientists in Denmark claim to have developed a treatment that can not only cure men of erectile dysfunction, but also make the penis bigger.

Rather than having to pop a pill every time they want to get it up, the new therapy could mean that after a single injection, men with penis problems are cured for life. Being developed by the Danish Center for Regenerative Medicine (DCRM), the treatment involves injecting stem cells into the base of the penis.

The researchers claim that this not only restores function for men who struggle to get an erection, but could also potentially make it bigger by increasing blood flow to their member.

The treatment has actually been created for men who have had to undergo surgery for prostate cancer. One potential side effect of a prostatectomy is erectile dysfunction and impotence, particularly if nerves or blood vessels are damaged during the procedure, or if you are an older man going under the knife. The constriction of vessels can also make the penis shrink.

In a series of trials – the results of which have yet to be published and so can’t be officially verified – the researchers are claiming that the stem cell injections can reverse damage and restore full function to the penis. They say the results have so far been successful on eight men, while they are awaiting the details of 12 more out of an early trial of 70. So far, the men have still been able to get hard even a year after treatment, while the researchers hope to continue testing to see just how long it lasts.

Further details of the procedure and the trial are expected to be announced at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting in Barcelona in July.

But if what the director of the DCRM is saying is genuine, then they could have created a new treatment that will radically change how countless men who develop prostate cancer are treated. In the US alone, around one in nine men will get diagnosed with the disease, and while most of these will survive, up to 40 percent could experience erectile dysfunction.

The researchers, however, envisage a much wider application for the therapy, if it can be proven to be both effective and safe. It could one day be used on the millions of men who face erectile dysfunction for a whole host of other reasons, from simple aging to diabetes and heart disease.

But before you get your hopes up, the therapy is likely to require a lot more testing before it is deemed safe enough to be used clinically.