Flibanserin, Called a “Viagra For Women” Clinical Trials Underway

Pooled results from three separate clinical trials of flibanserin, a drug originally created as an antidepressant, show it is effective in treating women with acquired hypoactive sexual desire disorder. These trials were the first ever to test a therapy that works at the level of the brain to enhance libido in women reporting low sexual desire according to a news report this month from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Almost 2,000 pre-menopausal women ages 18 and older with reported low libido  were involved in the clinical tests.   A treatment with 100 milligrams of flibanserin once a day was associated with significant improvements versus placebo in the number of satisfying sexual events according to the study.  Flibanserin is currently an investigational drug and is available only to women taking part in clinical trials.

“It’s essentially a Viagra-like drug for women in that diminished desire or libido is the most common feminine sexual problem, like erectile dysfunction is in men,” according to John M. Thorp Jr., M.D., McAllister distinguished professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the principal investigator for North America in the studies.

The UNC School of Medicine report can be found here.