Quick Sex Fix for Quick Finishers
By PAUL H. B. SHIN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Published: June 9, 2005

Move over, Viagra. The little blue pill that made erectile dysfunction a household word may soon be eclipsed by the first-ever pill to treat premature ejaculation.

Premature ejaculation afflicts more than twice as many men as erectile dysfunction. Results of clinical trials unveiled last month showed dapoxetine, made by New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson, helped men increase their intercourse time from an average of 55 seconds to more than three minutes.

"I see a lot of patients referred to me for erectile dysfunction, but a lot of them turn out to have more of a problem with premature ejaculation," said Dr. Ivan Grunberger, vice chairman of urology at Long Island College Hospital.

Dapoxetine is expected to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration early next year.

"A lot of men are living lives of quiet desperation and really suffer," said Ian Kerner, a Manhattan sex therapist. "The treatments out there to treat premature ejaculation have largely been behavioral therapies, which help, but are not entirely effective."

Dapoxetine has the same active ingredients of some anti-depressants, like Zoloft, which have been used in low doses for the ailment, Grunberger said.

Drug makers are also racing to produce sex-enhancing drugs for women, for whom the most common complaint is waning libido, especially after menopause.

"They just don't understand because they love their husband or their boyfriend, but they don't have any desire whatsoever," said Dr. Jacques Moritz, director of gynecology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. "It's very distressing."

Moritz has been prescribing custom-made creams that contain the hormone testosterone, which is responsible for sex drive in men and women.

The FDA, which rejected approval of a testosterone patch made for women by Proctor & Gamble in its initial review, may find itself under growing pressure to pave the way for a mass-market product.

"Women will force them to approve something like that," Moritz said.