The “Pink Pill”-Who Is It For?

The “pink pill”, flibanserin, was developed for premenopausal women. Although preliminary data on flibanserin use among postmenopausal women are available, the drug was studied primarily in premenopausal women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD), the indication sought at this time.

In the premenopausal population, problems such as pain with intercourse or hyperestrogenism aren’t typically present, simplifying the identification of HSDD. In clinical trials of the drug, HSDD was secondary, generalized, and acquired—that is, it followed a period of normal sexual function. And it didn’t come and go but was present regardless of location and circumstance.

Study participants had had a normal sex drive before their desire “turned off,” an occurrence they found distressing.

Clinicians, myself included, have been frustrated by our inability to prescribe an effective treatment for this common problem. The recent recommendation of an FDA Advisory panel to approve flibanserin for the treatment off HSDD in premenopausal women brings us a step closer to having additional options for treatment.
(Excerpted from an editorial by Dr. James Simon published in OBG Management, July 2015)

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