FDA committee recommends approval for “female Viagra”

An advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration voted 18 to six, on 4 June, to recommend approval of flibanserin, for the treatment of premenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire. It is the third time that the FDA has considered the pink pill that is hoped to be the women’s version of sildenafil (Viagra).

Previous advisory committees had unanimously rejected flibanserin as offering little benefit and potential risks to those who took it. Sprout Pharmaceuticals, which acquired the compound from Boehringer-Ingelheim, conducted additional work demanded by the FDA and submitted it again for consideration.

The company also instigated a “grassroots” marketing campaign for the …