Female Viagra Officially Goes on Sale

Empowering or worrying?

On August 18, the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) gave the necessary approval to Sprout Pharmaceuticals to produce its only flagship product -- flibanserin (Addyi). The commercial name for the "pink pill" has been the topic of discussion online as women were allegedly being excluded in the "Viagra revolution," according to a report by NBC News.

Little pink pill Addyi is formulated for those who are suffering from hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) -- helping "spark" a woman's low desire to have sex. And as of October 17, the drug is publicly available for consumption but requires a prescription.

"It's breaking up their marriages, it's really having them feel lesser," Sprout Pharmaceuticals CEO Cindy Whitehead said, as cited by Business Insider, of women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. "I think the possibility of providing women access to a treatment really meant a lot to me."

Boehringer Ingleheim piloted flibanserin in 2006, when a drug designed as an antidepressant ended up increasing libido instead of suppressing it, which is not an unusual side effect for antidepressant drugs.

Business Insider notes that FDA rejected the pill in 2010 because it didn't induce significant change in women's libido. Whitehead of Sprout Pharmaeuticals then took off from there. After much research, the company was able to produce enough proof that the drug could help women, increasing the average satisfying sexual encounter by one.

"I saw this spectacular science that was going to be abandoned," Whitehead said, as told by Business Insider. "And I thought it was going to be abandoned frankly because of a society unwilling to have a frank discussion about sex for women."

The FDA has approved it, albeit reluctantly, and has imposed restrictions on who can and how the drug can be prescribed.

Emory University Psychology professor Kim Wallen says that Addyi represents a "historic milestone" that might spur the creation of drugs formulated to increase desire in men and women. "This is the first time that a drug, for either men or women, has been approved strictly to increase sexual desire," Wallen says, as per NBC News. "That legitimizes many other drugs that are in development."

Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc offered Sprout Pharmaceuticals a $1 billion buyout plus milestone payments, post-FDA approval.

"I think what this affords us is to do that in a way that we as a 34-person company wouldn't have otherwise been able to," she said, as per Business Insider. "I think that means... affordable access for more women."

However, the FDA strongly warns women that they should never drink alcohol while taking the drug as the risk of fainting is high. This also poses a higher risk for drivers.