--- title: "Women's Viagra" Seeks FDA Approval, Again description: An FDA advisory committee is meeting on Thursday to discuss whether the drug flibanserin should be approved to treat low libido in women. canonical: https://time.com/3903112/womens-viagra-flibanserin-hypoactive-sexual-desire-disorder/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-01T15:02:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:08:13.484Z article:section: Health og:title: "Women's Viagra" Seeks FDA Approval, Again og:description: An FDA advisory committee is meeting on Thursday to discuss whether the drug flibanserin should be approved to treat low libido in women. og:url: https://time.com/3903112/womens-viagra-flibanserin-hypoactive-sexual-desire-disorder/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt869816c570788ac0/6988526bf887dcc4a6e90b5e/flibanserin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: "Women's Viagra" Seeks FDA Approval, Again twitter:description: An FDA advisory committee is meeting on Thursday to discuss whether the drug flibanserin should be approved to treat low libido in women. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt869816c570788ac0/6988526bf887dcc4a6e90b5e/flibanserin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Women's Viagra' to Seek FDA Approval, Again > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=8f604ede-1eb3-4256-9bf1-227d678ee44c&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Know Right Now: FDA To Discuss 'Women's Viagra' [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: FDA To Discuss 'Women's Viagra'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qC7XnlGd.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2015-06-01. The FDA is discussing this week the approval of flibanserin, a drug that treats low libido in women_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 1, 2015 3:02 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 1, 2015 3:02 PM UTC An FDA advisory committee is meeting on Thursday to discuss whether flibanserin — a drug sometimes nicknamed ‘women’s viagra’ — should be approved to treat low libido in women. If approved, the drug would be marketed as treatment for hypoactive sexual desire disorder, which is said to cause a low sex drive in women. Some supporters argue the drug has a role in gender equality and that women do not have the same resources as men to deal with various degrees of sexual dysfunction. The drug, owned by Sprout Pharmaceuticals, has been rejected by the agency two times already. The argument being that its benefit is not notable enough to outweigh its side effects which can include dizziness and nausea. Other pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer and Procter & Gamble [have made attempts](http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2011/12/14/placebo-is-the-real-female-viagra/) at drugs to treat lack of libido among women. So far they have not been successful. The FDA’s Thursday meeting on flibanserin is open to the public. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3903112/womens-viagra-flibanserin-hypoactive-sexual-desire-disorder/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3903112/womens-viagra-flibanserin-hypoactive-sexual-desire-disorder/"},"headline":"'Women's Viagra' to Seek FDA Approval, Again","datePublished":"2015-06-01T15:02:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T09:08:13.484Z","description":"A pill for female sexual desire goes back to the FDA for a third time","url":"https://time.com/3903112/womens-viagra-flibanserin-hypoactive-sexual-desire-disorder/","keywords":["Sex","women"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt869816c570788ac0/6988526bf887dcc4a6e90b5e/flibanserin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt869816c570788ac0/6988526bf887dcc4a6e90b5e/flibanserin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters.","caption":"A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters.","creditText":"Allen Breed—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sex/","name":"Sex"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3903112/womens-viagra-flibanserin-hypoactive-sexual-desire-disorder/","name":"'Women's Viagra' to Seek FDA Approval, Again"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: FDA To Discuss 'Women's Viagra'","description":"The FDA is discussing this week the approval of flibanserin, a drug that treats low libido in women","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qC7XnlGd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-01T19:37:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qC7XnlGd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3903112/womens-viagra-flibanserin-hypoactive-sexual-desire-disorder/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3903112/womens-viagra-flibanserin-hypoactive-sexual-desire-disorder/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```