--- 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: 2026-02-22T07:46:52.664Z 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: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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 by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 1, 2015 3:02 PM UTC  A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters. A tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters.Allen Breed—AP 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. ```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":"2026-02-22T07:46:52.664Z","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"}}]}] ```