# Fda Approves Second Drug For Women With Low Libido



## brg240 (Jun 25, 2019)

FRIDAY, June 21, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday gave its approval to Vyleesi, the second medication so far approved to help women with low sexual desire.

In a news release, the FDA said* that Vyleesi (bremelanotide) is a drug that would be administered by injection prior to having sex.*

*It's been specifically approved for premenopausal women with* a condition known as acquired, *generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD*).

"There are women who, for no known reason, have reduced sexual desire that causes marked distress, and who can benefit from safe and effective pharmacologic treatment," said Dr. Hylton Joffe, who directs the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research's Division of Bone, Reproductive and Urologic Products.


"Today's approval provides women with another treatment option for this condition," Hylton said in the news release.

According to the agency, HSDD is not caused by any medical or psychiatric condition, relationship issues or drug side effects.

Instead, women with HSDD have "previously experienced no problems with sexual desire," the FDA said. "Generalized HSDD refers to HSDD that occurs regardless of the type of sexual activity, situation or partner."

*The exact way in which Vyleesi helps stimulate sexual desire remains unclear, *but it works on melanocortin receptors on cells, the FDA said.

*The drug is injected under the skin of the abdomen or thigh at least 45 minutes prior to a sexual encounter, *although the best timeframe for dosing could vary from user to user.

*Side effects can occur, the FDA added, and include nausea and vomiting, flushing, injection site reactions and headache. Nausea was especially common, affecting 40% of users in the clinical study that led to approval.
[*additional info from fda websi*te
The most common side effects of Vyleesi are nausea and vomiting, flushing, injection site reactions and headache. About 40% of patients in the clinical trials experienced nausea, most commonly with the first Vyleesi injection, and 13% needed medications for the treatment of nausea. About 1% of patients treated with Vyleesi in the clinical trials reported darkening of the gums and parts of the skin, including the face and breasts, which did not go away in about half the patients after stopping treatment. Patients with dark skin were more likely to develop this side effect."]
*

That study involved 1,247 premenopausal women with HSDD who received Vyleesi or a placebo in one of two 24-week trials.

"*In these trials, about 25% of patients treated with Vyleesi had an increase of 1.2 or more in their sexual desire score (scored on a range of 1.2 to 6.0, *with higher scores indicating greater sexual desire) compared to about 17% of those who took placebo," the FDA noted.
[add. from FDA site:
*Additionally, about 35% of the patients treated with Vyleesi had a decrease of one or more in their distress score (scored on a range of zero to four, with higher scores indicating greater distress from low sexual desire) compared to about 31% of those who took placebo*."]

Still, the overall benefit was not large.* "There was no difference between treatment groups in the change from the start of the study to end of the study in the number of satisfying sexual events. *Vyleesi does not enhance sexual performance," the FDA said.

*And there was one other caveat: Vyleesi can hike blood pressure, so people with heart disease or high blood pressure should not take it, the FDA said.*

Vyleesi should also not be taken by anyone who is also taking the drug naltrexone, used to combat opioid dependency, because Vyleesi reduces naltrexone's effectiveness.

Vyleesi is not the first drug approved to enhance flagging libido in women. *In 2015 the FDA approved Addyi (flibanserin) for the purpose, but the drug did not become widely used because it cannot be taken with alcohol and only certain certified health care providers are allowed to prescribe it.*

According to _CNN_, Vyleesi's maker, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, said the new drug will not be available until September, and pricing and reimbursement have yet to be determined.


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## guudhair (Jun 26, 2019)

A shot?  

Why was this even approved?  Those numbers are garbage and the side effects aren’t even worth it for the “maybe” result.  They really need to do better with women’s health.  This is crazy.


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## Miss_Luna (Jun 26, 2019)

Ugh, imagine wanting to WANT to have sex, but you'd rather just vomit. 

Meanwhile, men get a pill and can last for hours.


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## Kanky (Jun 26, 2019)

What in the world? These side effects are crazy. Who is desperate enough to take something like this? Seems like worrying about the side effects would turn you right back off.


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## Leeda.the.Paladin (Jun 26, 2019)

They would’ve lost me at injection


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## Everything Zen (Jun 26, 2019)

What if your man is just a loser?  I’m not asking personally but everyone loves to stay in a woman’s vagina. I will say that stress will dry me out


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## Sosoothing (Jun 26, 2019)

This doesn't seem worth it.
They need to go back to the lab and try again.


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