DutchNews.nl,
Monday 04 November 2013
"The
pill is going to save those relationships,"
predicts sexologist Goedele
Liekens. (ANP)
|
The
American drugs authority FDA is this week considering a request from an Almere
research institute to carry out phase three clinical trials on a pill to
increase sexual desire in women, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.
Researcher
Adriaan Tuiten and his team are hoping for the green light to test the pills on
1,200 women. Phase three trials are the last stage before a pill can be brought
onto the market, the Volkskrant says.
Tuiten
estimates one in five women experience lessened sexual desire and puts the
market for his product - a combination of existing drugs - at €6bn within 10
years.
Medicalisation
The drug
has been welcomed by television sexologist Goedele Liekens, who says it will
save relationships. Others, however, criticise the drug for medicialising sex.
Tuiten has
developed two pills. One, Lybrido, is for women who are not interested in sex
and is a combination of testosterone and Viagra.
The other,
Lybridos, is aimed at women who block out sexual desire for various reasons. It
is a combination of testosterone and anxiety drug buspirone, the Volkskrant
says.
Trials
The Journal
of Sexual Medicine published the results of preliminary research using 50 women
last year. It showed an increase in sexual desire in women using the pills.
However,
Anton Grootegoed, head of Erasmus teaching hospital’s reproductive health
department, told the paper he had serious doubts about the new pills.
‘Lybrido
and Lybridos are combinations of existing drugs and that is the Achilles heel,’
he said. ‘Do they work better in combination than separately? If not, then
Tuiten does not have a product.’
According
to Emotional Brain website, the company has applied for FDA rather than
European approval as 'the shortest route to ensuring global marketing'.
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