In what researchers are describing as a kind of "Viagra for women," Case Western Reserve University scientists have identified an experimental drug that increases libido and sexual satisfaction in postmenopausal women.
 

The drug — known as melanocortin-receptor-4-agonist bremelanotide — was found to reduce sex-related distress and increase both the sex drive and satisfying sexual experiences of women treated with it.
 

The study, presented at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists annual meeting in Chicago this week, involved several hundred women treated with various doses of the drug over 12 weeks, and nearly 100 women who received an inactive placebo. The results showed women taking the highest doses of the drug reported the highest levels of satisfaction and the lowest levels of sexual dysfunction, when compared with those taking lower doses or the placebo.
 

"There are no approved drugs for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women," lead researcher Sheryl Kingsberg, told MedPage Today.
 

"Female sexual dysfunction is a class of disorders that constitute the most prominent sexual disorders in women. You could still have sex and it would be pleasurable, but it is about wanting sex."
 

In a companion study that examined sexual desire disorder, medical specialists with the Columbus Center for Women's Health Research in Ohio also found that treatment with bremelanotide boosted the number of satisfactory sexual events in a month for women taking the drug.
 

Kingsberg said researchers are not awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration to test the drug for safety and effectiveness on a larger group of women — a key step toward seeking federal approval to market it more widely.
 

"Bremelanotide has finished its phase II studies and designs for phase III are now awaiting approval from the FDA," she said.