November 2009 Archives

As we've talked about many times, some men report that Viagra helps with premature ejaculation. It can decrease sensation, and it can also help in "rebound time," getting you back in the action very quickly even if you jump the gun a bit.

Also as we've mentioned, a new drug, Priligy (dapoxetine) has come out. Designed initially as an antidepressant, it promises to help with premature ejaculation. It's available now in parts of Europe but it failed to gain US approval a few years ago and it's not clear if it will ever hit the US market.

These two solutions are pills you pop. However, a new study just came out showing that a spray-on anesthetic is effective as well:

The first U.S. trials of a spray-on anesthetic for the penis showed that it increased the time to ejaculation nearly five-fold, providing the first good solution for premature ejaculation, researchers reported today.

There's really nothing new here. Ejaculation delay creams and even condoms have been available over-the-counter for years. Time will tell whether men will find this spray-on worth the trouble - the study reports that it increases average time from .6 minutes to 2.6 minutes. No reports on how it feels to have a slightly numbed penis, though...

It's worth noting that premature ejaculation is often treatable through exercises where men can learn to delay ejaculation themselves. It's quite different from erectile dysfunction which, in many men, has a physical basis and can only be treated with medication.

We already have Levitra, Cialis, and, of course, Viagra. Do we really need another PDE5 inhibitor? The company Vivus thinks we do. Their new drug Avanafil appears to work, and they are hoping to push it as a drug that works faster than the competitors:

"Patients want on-demand therapy because when the mood is right, the mood is right," Wilson said in a telephone interview. "We've shown efficacy in 30 minutes, and no one else has done that."

The company hopes to bring the product to market in 2011. With generic Viagra looming large in this market as Pfizer's drug goes off-patent, it's hard to imagine this new drug achieving too much success. They'll need a stronger selling point than fast action, since Levitra is supposed to work fast, and many users report to us that Viagra works for them within half an hour too, especially on an empty stomach.

According to the good people at Brand New, Pfizer has a new logo:

This is what some might call a subtle change. Please note, each and every Viagra pill has a Pfizer logo on one side. I wonder how long it will take for the pills to reflect this change. I also have to wonder if the old pills, with the old logo, will become collectors' items. Thanks to pharmagossip for the heads up.