'Female Viagra' Pill To Increase Women's Sex Drive May Get FDA Approval
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Woman may be able to turn on their sexual desire by taking a pill soon. The drug dubbed the "female Viagra' or 'the little pink pill' that boosts women's sex drive could be available with a doctor's prescription soon.
The Food and Drug Administration will decide today whether to approve flibanseran, a drug that boosts the libido of pre-menopausal women.
The drug was created a decade ago and acquired by Sprout Pharmaceuticals in 2011. The FDA has denied approval twice.
Taken daily, the pill treats women suffering from Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, or HSDD, according to the drugmaker.
A 2008 study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology found 12 to 19 percent of U.S. women suffer from the disorder.
Opponents say the benefits outweigh the risks, which include sleepiness, dizziness, nausea, along with psychological and neurological side effects. Some say women's sexual dysfunction stems from a mismatched sex drives between partners is not something that should be treated like a disease.
The FDA has approved dozens of drugs to treat sexual dysfunction in men with names like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. By 2012, treatment for erectile dysfunction represented a $4.3 billion market, according to a report by Transparency Market Research.