Addyi, a new U.S.-made drug that treats low sexual desire in women, may be licensed for circulation in Viet Nam if it successfully passes clinical tests, local health authorities have said.

The drug, Flibanserin, under the trade name Addyi, nicknamed 'female Viagra,' is shown in this undated Sprout Pharmaceuticals handout photo released on August 18, 2015. Reuters

A representative of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health’s Pharmaceutical Management Department made the statement on Wednesday when talking about the drug, a libido pill for women dubbed “female Viagra,” which won approval from the U.S.’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday.

Pursuant to provisions of the Law on Pharmacy, clinical tests are required for any medicine that has yet to pass five years of circulation from the date of production in the country where it was made, the representative said.

If such tests show that Addyi meets requirements on quality and treatment effects, its producer can apply for registration of circulation of the drug in Viet Nam, the official added.

Cindy Whitehead, the managing director of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, a U.S.-based private company that produces Addyi, said the drug will officially be launched on the U.S. market on October 17 this year.  

The drug in question, initially called Flibanserin, has been nicknamed “female Viagra” in media reports, even though it does not work like Pfizer Inc's blockbuster Viagra pill for men, which in 1998 became the first approved drug for erectile dysfunction, Reuters reported.

The FDA said the first approved drug for the female condition, to be sold under the brand name Addyi, will only be available through certified health care professionals and pharmacies due to its safety issues, according to Reuters.

Unlike Viagra, which affects blood flow to the genitals, Addyi, which needs to be taken every day, works on the brain, Reuters said.

According to a warning on Addyi’s label, the drug should not be used by those who drink alcohol, as that can increase the risk of severely low blood pressure and fainting, the New York Times said, adding that the drug is also not to be used with certain other drugs or by people with liver impairment.

According to the newspaper, the fact that the first prescription drug to enhance women’s sexual drive won regulatory approval has marked a victory for a lobbying campaign that had accused the FDA of gender bias for ignoring the sexual needs of women.

(Source: Tuoi Tre News)