Diana Karp
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Today, Sprout Pharmaceuticals celebrates a hard-won battle to distribute their newest drug, Flibanserin (aka, “Addyi”)– which they will advertise as an effective treatment for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, or HSDD.
Sure does take me back a few years…
…seems like just yesterday when Viagra hit the market. Think it was about 1998. I remember because my friend, Evan, immediately went out and bought himself $10,000 worth of Pfizer stock.
“Wow,” I thought.
I was “economically naive” at the time (Who am I kidding? Still am).  I had never before considered  purchasing stock in a new and promising product as soon as, or even before, it launched.
But Evan was financially savvy. Always watching the stock exchange. Reading the Wall Street Journal. Pouring over all those boring investment newsletters. He liked that kind of stuff.
He was good at it.
Alas, Evan is not here with us today. But I’m sure his financially solvent widow, Katherine, would testify that both Evan’s prescience and investment prowess were spot-freakin’- on that day… way back when.
So, today, when I heard the news that the FDA had finally approved Addyi – set to release this October – I immediately gave myself a sizable facepalm, and retroactively cursed myself:
“Why didn’t I buy stock in Sprout Pharmaceuticals!?”
But then I took a moment to ponder– and remind myself that for any product to become successful and make a serious profit…
…it has to actually work.
I’ve never had a penis. So I have not personally experienced the effects of Viagra. However, word is that when men take it, they experience full-fledged and turgid erections.
I’m Talking Hard-ons. Boners. “Wood.”
To me, a hard-rock penis in place of a consistently flaccid one means that Viagra works.
BUT ADDYi? I’m not so sure.
If you read my last blog about Flibanserin, you’ll remember that, when it comes to “bedroom disorders,” the “problem” for men is different than the “problem” for women:
MEN:
♦ They want sex.
♦ They want to perform.
 ♦ But their equipment won’t cooperate.
 WOMEN:
♦ Their equipment works just fine.
♦ They don’t want sex.
♦ They are just not in the mood.
Therefore– unlike Viagra– Addyi works on a woman’s brain, not her genitalia.
And brains are tricky.
I’m not a scientist, but it seems to me that engorging a penis with blood would be a lot easier than fussing around with someone’s mind.
When you get into the brain, you’re messing with the delicate circuitry of neurotransmitters and chemistry– like dopamine, seratonin, adrenaline, endorphins. Complicated stuff that science has yet to hone into perfect little pills promising precise and total cures for such serious mental disorders as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and more.
Granted, pharmacology has come a long way over the last few decades – with SSRIs and other medications proven to relieve (some of)  the crippling effects of psychiatric disorders. But have you ever heard about a pill that 100% “cures” any one mental disease?
No, you have not.
Likewise, I doubt you will ever hear about a pill that 100% “cures” the newly coined  “Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder” (HSDD).
Addyi certainly doesn’t. The results from Sprout’s clinical trials were, at best, nebulous and incredibly vague.
For instance, one study showed that women taking “Addyi” experienced ONE ADDITIONAL PLEASURABLE SEXUAL EXPERIENCE per month– versus women taking a placebo.
WHOOPIE DOO.
I, too, could get myself “into the mood” one additional time per month– any number of ways:
- By keeping a photo of George Clooney under my pillow
- By enjoying the company of Eduardo, my cabana pool boy
- By sending the kids to summer camp
- By smoking a joint
BUT THAT’S JUST ME.
What do YOU think? Are you ready for “Addyi”? Are you going to run out in October and get some? Or wait, and see what people are saying?
Do you think Addyi will live up to the hype?