Stopping premature ejaculation may be the next big thing on drug front
August 04, 2006

In a select group of bedrooms across the Pittsburgh area this summer, an unlikely sex toy has emerged: the stopwatch.

With the not-so-kinky device in hand, romantic partners of men who typically experience premature ejaculations -- defined as sexual release within three minutes -- have been measuring the impact of antidepressant medications on the duration of their lovemaking.

The research, being conducted at the University of Pittsburgh for drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, is aimed at determining whether a side effect of some antidepressants called "ejaculation latency" -- a delay in achieving sexual release -- could be used to the benefit of non-depressed men who are nonetheless frustrated by premature ejaculations.

This is, of course, all in the name of science. But just as erectile dysfunction drugs grew into a big business for pharmaceutical giants -- and in the process, raised public awareness of the issue through a flood of advertisements -- companies are hoping to cash in on another hush-hush bedroom issue.

ED drugs generated $1.37 billion in sales in the United States during 2005, according to the pharmaceutical information company IMS Health, even though erectile dysfunction is estimated to affect 10 percent to 12 percent of all men. By comparison, premature ejaculation may affect 27 percent to 34 percent of men across all age ranges, according to OrthoUrology, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. "Research has shown that this is the largest market for sexual dysfunction, even larger than the erectile dysfunction market," said Deborah Carty, spokeswoman for New Jersey-based NexMed Inc., which is conducting research on a topical cream meant to delay ejaculations. Another firm, Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Lexington, Mass., announced in June that it was initiating further research on a premature ejaculation drug that it eventually hopes to market.

For now, though, analysts say that the thought of premature ejaculation drugs boosting sales of men's health drugs is, well, premature.

Last October, the Food and Drug Administration gave the cold shoulder to a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson that had hoped to market a drug for the treatment of premature ejaculation.

And GlaxoSmithKline, the drug company funding Pitt's research, says it has no hope of re-labeling its Wellbutrin XL antidepressant as a cure for premature ejaculation -- Wellbutrin, in fact, probably has the least impact on ejaculations of the three drugs that were studied at Pitt, according to the project's lead researcher.

A May report from Kalorama Information found that the global men's medicine market surpassed $19 billion during 2005. But the contribution to revenue from sexual dysfunction drugs -- which had been one of the healthiest segments in the men's health industry -- is slowing due to price competition, said Melissa Elder, a pharmaceutical analyst with Kalorama.

Once projected to generate $7 billion in annual sales, sexual dysfunction drugs probably will bring in just $4.3 billion in revenue by 2010, Ms. Elder said.

At Pitt, research participants took a placebo during the first half of the study as couples became accustomed to the particulars of sex in the name of science -- namely, a stopwatch and paperwork listing date and duration of intercourse. During the second half, men were randomly assigned to use one of three antidepressant medications.

Men could participate if they were age 18 to 40, involved in stable heterosexual relationships and reported ejaculations that occurred prior to the wishes of both partners (less than 3 minutes in duration). Researchers publicized the study this spring with a few ads that ran during sports radio shows.

"We figured we wanted to go where the guys are," said Dr. Edward Friedman, a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh, where 15 men completed the study

The frequency of ejaculation problems varies among patients using different antidepressants, with more problems reported among men taking drugs that affect levels of serotonin, a brain chemical. It's thought that serotonin has an effect on the nervous system responsible for orgasm response, said Dr. Friedman.

"Nerves are responsible for the process being initiated and maintained," he said. "By altering these chemicals [with medications], we're altering the hard wiring -- it's like we're putting more resistance into the circuit."

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06216/711030-28.stm