Erectile Dysfunction

True, the drug enhanced engorgement of vaginal tissue, just as it had of the penis, but that extra bit of pelvic swelling did nothing to amplify women's desire for or enjoyment of sex.

What is needed for the treatment of so-called female hypoactive sexual desire disorder, researchers decided, is a reasonably safe and effective drug that acts on the central nervous system, on the pleasure centers of the brain or the sensory circuitry that serves them.

For a while, many sex therapists and doctors were optimistic about Procter & Gamble's Intrinsa, a testosterone patch that delivers small transdermal pulses of the sex hormone thought to play a crucial if poorly understood role in male and female libido alike.

But in 2005, the US Food and Drug Administration refused to approve Intrinsa, declaring that its medical risks outweighed whatever modest and spotty benefits it might offer.

More recently, another potentially promising treatment for hypoactive desire has been making its way through clinical trials.

The compound, called bremelanotide, is a synthetic version of a hormone involved in skin pigmentation, and it was initially developed by Palatin Technologies of New Jersey as a potential tanning agent to help prevent skin cancer.

But when male college students participating in early safety tests began reporting that the drug sometimes gave them erections, the company began exploring bremelanotide'...

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