The Quest for Decent Female Viagra Continues
For most men, making love is a mere mechanical process that only requires a rigid erection. That’s why male sexual dysfunction can be effectively treated with a pill, like Viagra.
But for women, sexual dysfunction is more complicated and requires more than just a drug to deal with. Common sexual dysfunctions in women, e.g. low libido, are usually caused by psychological factors that no medication has yet been clinically proven to address effectively.
While some drugs, like the famous Viagra, are being prescribed off-label to women who suffer from sexual difficulties, there’s no medication that is approved by the FDA as a “female Viagra”.
Many pharmaceutical companies around the world are still in search for a female counterpart of Viagra, but until something is proven to solidly work (if any), women can discuss their sexual problems with their doctor and/or partner to work things out.
In the following video, Dr. Jennifer Ashton speaks to CBS HealthWatch about Flibanserin, an antidepressant drugs that could be the long-waited-for female libido booster.
Avanafil: The New “Son of Viagra” By Vivus
The US drug developer Vivus Inc is testing a new erectile dysfunction drug. Avanafil (dubbed as Son of Viagra) is a PDE5 inhibitor (same as Viagra), which relaxes blood vessels and improves the male’s ability to get and maintain stiff erections.
In a clinical trial of Avanafil, 646 men with ED were given 50mg, 100mg, and 200mg doses of the medicine. All patients experienced improvement and increased ability to get an erection within 30 minutes of taking the medication.
Vivus is expected to continue safety and effectiveness studies on this new treatment before filing for FDA approval. If approved, Avanafil will enter the highly competitive, multi-billion ED treatment market in the US, which is already dominated by the blockbuster little blue pill (Viagra), Cialis and Levitra. The company hopes that Avanafil’s quicker onset will give it an edge over competitor drugs.
Another ED drug marketed by Vivus is Muse (alprostadil). The brand name of this drug, MUSE, stands for Medicated Urethral Suppository for Erection, and as the name suggests this drug is administered as a urethral suppository. Ouch!
Earlier this month, Dong-A Pharmaceutical Co. announced that their ED drug, Udenafil, is en route to FDA approval and US marketing authorization.
With Pfizer’s worldwide patents on Viagra (sildenafil citrate) expiring in a few years (2011-2013), the impotence treatment market is definitely on the edge of some dramatic changes with more and more new rival drugs (brand and generic) lining up for FDA approval.
ED patients should be excited about these upcoming competitors, which will hopefully help reduce the skyrocketing prices of prescription ED treatments.
Zydena (Udenafil) Undergoes U.S. Trials
Udenafil is a new oral treatment for erectile dysfunction developed by the Korean Dong-A PharmTech Co. Ltd. This new medication has entered phase III trials in the United States.
Udenafil is a long-lasting PDE-5 inhibitor, and so it works in the same mechanism as Viagra, i.e. it relaxes blood vessels and allows more blood to flow to the genitals, which improves the man’s ability to achieve and maintain a firm erection during sexual arousal.
This drug is already approved and marketed under the brand name Zydena in some countries, including Korea and Russia. Dong-A is crossing fingers that in a couple of years they will be granted marketing authorization for Udenafil in the US and EU.
If it gets approved by the FDA, Zydena (Udenafil) will become the fourth prescription treatment option for ED patients that will compete with Viagra (sildenafil citrate), Cialis (tadalafil), and Levitra (vardenafil). More competition is always in favor of consumers who get more options, from which they can choose what is best for them in terms of results, safety, and price (after consulting a doctor, of course).
Generic Lipitor Will Soon Become Official
The Pfizer-made, blockbuster cholesterol-lowering pill, Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium), will soon be available in generic versions made by different pharmaceutical companies worldwide.
Lipitor is the top selling medication with millions of patients using it worldwide. It is unfortunate for Pfizer (developer and manufacturer of Lipitor) that their U.S. patent on this drug expires in the upcoming 2010.
Other drug makers are thronging to get U.S. marketing approval for their generic copies of Lipitor. Dr. Reddy’s (a giant Indian pharmaceutical company) has filed for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for their generic version of Lipitor.
This is great news for Lipitor consumers, because the more competition there is, the lower the prices get.