Failed antidepressant being repackaged and marketed as Viagra for women…(no joke)

Flibanserin failed its trials as an anti-depressant, but when its maker, Boehringer, asked test subjects to return the unused portion, patients were reluctant. Boehringer funded a study at the University of North Carolina, which now reports that Flibanserin increases a woman’s sex drive. A lot of the media is touting this as “female Viagra,” but it’s really no such thing.

Dana Blankenhorn
SmartPlanet.com
November 16, 2009

It’s a great example of how drug companies try to turn their lemons into lemonade.

Flibanserin was developed by a German company, Boehringer Ingelheim, originally as an anti-depressant. You may have never heard of Boehringer, but it’s an old name in the drug game, producing such common drugs as Dulcolax, Flomax, Spiriva, and Zantac, among others.

Flibanserin failed its trials as an anti-depressant, but when the company asked test subjects to return the unused portion, patients were reluctant. (The 2001 movie Serendipity starred John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.)

So, like any good drug maker Boehringer tried, tried again. What the University of North Carolina now reports is that it increases a woman’s sex drive.

A lot of the media is touting this as “female Viagra,” but it’s really no such thing. Viagra makes sex possible. Flibanserin just seems to make it desirable. Boehringer funded the UNC study.

Read entire article: http://www.smartplanet.com/technology/blog/rethinking-healthcare/can-a-bad-anti-depressant-be-a-good-sex-aid/613/

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