RALEIGH – Cindy Eckert, CEO of Raleigh-based Sprout Pharmaceuticals is welcoming news that her firm’s so-called “female Viagra” now has competition in the market to deal with female sexual disfunction.
Saying her firm’s drug Addyi, also nicknamed the “little pink pill,” is selling well, Eckert sees the FDA’s approval on Friday of Vyleesi made by AMAG Pharmaceuticals will bring more attention to the discussion and treatment to premenopausal women who suffer from Hypoactive (low) Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD).
“Sprout is tripling year over year and today’s news will only further propel that,” Eckert told WRAL TechWire on Saturday morning.
FDA approves rival for ‘female Viagra’ from Raleigh firm Sprout Pharmaceuticals
There are differences between the drugs. For example, Addyi is a pill; Vylessi is an injection.
Eckert fought the FDA to win approval of the first such female drug in 2015, campaigning in part on the fact men at that time had access to treatments for sexual disfunction but women did not.
Addyi
“When we broke through with Addyi, the first ever treatment for low libido in women, it wasn’t our goal to be the last,” Eckert said. “We set out to crash a ceiling, create a category and lead an overdue conversation about women’s right to desire.”
She pointed out that women now have a choice, which to her is important.
“Women having options is the mission come true and patients win as we increasingly discuss this common condition,” Eckert said.
“If you consider what happened to ED [erectile dysfunction] treatment when more than just Viagra was available, the growth was explosive because the shift from pioneering to mainstream had occurred.”
Eckert and investors sold Sprout to Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $1 billion in 2015 then she and a group of backers reacquired the company two years later.
Since reacquiring Addyi, Sprout has moved to drastically cut its cost to as low as $25 a month with insurance coverage or $99 via homed delivery. Addyi was priced at several hundred dollars before Sprout regained control.
Valeant basically returned rights to Addyi at virtually no cost and provided a $25 million loan to Sprout for a relaunch of the company as a separate venture.
