Addyi, the First Female Libido Drug Has Been Approved By the FDA

Addyi, the little pink pill that sparked a war over whether women were being left out of the Viagra revolution, goes on sale Saturday. Women with liver problems also should not take the drug. Otherwise, its effectiveness would be watered down, reports Associated Press. The FDA was previously criticized by women’s rights group for allegedly discriminating the need of the female class to avail such type of medication. This market represents an untapped financial opportunity for pharmacies. Originally an anti-depressant drug, it is not fully understood why the drug may increase sexual desire.

The drug can alter the chemical make-up in the brain by increasing dopamine levels and this can enable the brain to experience more sexual sensations.

Since the 1990s, pharma giants such as Procter & Gamble, Pfizer and Bayer had attempted to make female libido drugs but discarded the venture.

The battle over its approval whacked the Food and Drug Administration from two sides – campaigners, often company-backed, who said the FDA discriminated against women by turning it down twice, and critics who said the drug didn’t work and could even be risky to women who took it.

Addyi is expected to be priced at $20 a month for patients with insurance. But Addyi, with generic name flibanserin, is intended only to the 10 percent who suffer from hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), wrote Quartz.

Further, the agency strongly suggested that women must not take alcohol together with the female Viagra Addyi for it might cause sudden fainting – a typical side effect of drivers.

Criticism of Sprout Pharmaceuticals has been for arguably exploiting third and fourth wave sex-positive feminist movements to gain support for the approval of Addyi.