© SIRUP/ISTOCKPHOTO.COMAfter more than a decade of work on a drug to increase female libido, German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim threw in the towel. Since 1999 it had poured buckets of time and money into flibanserin, a once-daily pill that company executives hoped would become the first approved drug for treating female sexual dysfunction (FSD), a condition broadly defined to include low sexual desire, trouble reaching orgasm or pain during sex. Flibanserin was designed to increase libido by altering levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, but in 2010, a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee rejected the drug, arguing that its benefits—in Phase 3 trials, women who took flibanserin felt more desire and had more “satisfying sexual events”—did not outweigh its side effects, which included dizziness and fatigue that caused 15 percent of users to discontinue treatment. Following the FDA’s rejection, Boehringer shuttered the program, opting to invest in other areas.
A year later, North Carolina–based Sprout Pharmaceuticals, acquired the drug from Boehringer and quickly resubmitted it to the FDA, this time with data from 14 additional studies including 3,000 new patients, which showed that, in a month’s time, flibanserin doubled a woman’s number of satisfying sexual experiences, increased her desire, and decreased her distress. But side effects still included drowsiness and dizziness, as well as nausea. Once again, the FDA was not turned on. In October 2013, the agency rejected the drug for the second time, stating that its “modest” effect did not outweigh its risks.
There are currently six types of drugs on the market for men suffering from sexual dysfunction, primarily erectile dysfunction, approved and sold under 25 different names and formulations. Still, ...
