FDA Skeptical About Women's Viagra

Hopes that a drug to boost women's sex drive—nicknamed Pink Viagra—would pass FDA muster took a hit today with the publication of an agency review. It found that the drug, called flibanserin and under development by the German firm Boehringer Ingelheim, produced results that were not "particularly compelling," reports the Wall Street Journal.

To make matters worse, women reported side effects such as dizziness and nausea. The agency reviewed data involving about 2,400 women who took either flibanserin or a placebo for 6 months, finding only a slight increase in sexually "satisfying" encounters. This doesn't automatically kill the drug's prospects, but they look bleak. An FDA panel meets Friday to begin formal consideration.
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