New Delhi: Viagra for men has been available for a long time. But now the US FDA has approved a pill for low libido in women finally bringing a solution for their sexual complaints.
Manufactured by Sprout Pharmaceuticals, the pill called Addyi (pronounced “add-ee”) will start selling in October. However, the drug to enhance sexual desire in women doesn’t work that well and has side-effects.
A report on The Verge notes that between 8 to 13 per cent of women who take the drug daily experience an average of 0.5 more "sexually satisfying" events per month. The side-effects range from drowsiness to dizziness and fainting.
The FDA had rejected the drug twice before due to the scant benefit it offered and the side-effects that came with it. In June, a panel had recommended putting the drug- then known by its chemical name as flibanserin- on the market with certain safety warnings.
The recent approval appears to be influenced by the company’s argument that there are 26 FDA approved drugs to treat various sexual dysfunctions for men but not a single one for women’s most common sexual complaint.
Addyi was originally developed as an antidepressant but it failed to show efficacy. However, some test subjects recorded a higher libido that led to further development of the drug for treating low sexual desire in women.
It is approved ‘hypoactive sexual desire,’ which is described as a ‘persistently or recurrently deficient or absent sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity’ that can't be explained by outside factors like another health condition, medication side-effects, or severe relationship stress.
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