19 August 2015 - The FDA has approved a controversial drug designed to enhance a woman’s sexual drive. Addyi (generic name: flibanserin), from Sprout Pharmaceuticals, acts in the brain to enhance a woman’s libido. By taking one pill a day for a month, clinical trials showed that women on Addyi on average increased their number of satisfying sexual events by one a month from a baseline of 2 -3. That’s obviously not an enormous amount, but there is a subset of women for whom the drug had a better effect and, for them, the drug may prove to be of value. It was these data that led the FDA to approve Addyi.

While women now have access to a drug to treat a weak libido, in effect a drug to treat female sexual dysfunction, it’s really a stretch to think that this drug will have the impact both medically and commercially that the PDE-5 inhibitors like Pfizer PFE -0.71%’s Viagra and Lilly ’s Cialis had. First of all, physicians will have to be convinced to prescribe Addyi. That’s not going to be a trivial exercise. As already stated, the drug’s effect is modest in the majority of people who might take it. But like every drug, it comes with risks, in this case dizziness, low blood pressure, fainting and sleepiness. Drinking alcohol is contraindicated as well. Many physicians will be hesitant to prescribe this drug.

For more details, go to: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2015/08/18/you-can-call-it-the-female-viagra-but-the-libido-pill-addyi-wont-come-close-to-viagras-impact/