November 19, 2009

Spray May Delay Ejaculation

THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A spray touted as the first potential treatment for premature ejaculation has proved effective in a second study, according to the company that developed it.

PSD502 -- which combines the drugs lidocaine and prilocaine -- is sprayed on the head of the penis before intercourse.

The study of men in Canada, Poland and the United States found that those treated with the spray five minutes before intercourse were able to delay ejaculation up to five times longer than those who used a placebo. In addition, men who used the spray and their partners reported improved sexual satisfaction.

The findings, presented recently at the annual meeting of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America, are consistent with those from a previous trial in Europe, according to San Diego-based Sciele Pharma Inc.

"Premature ejaculation can have a powerful negative impact on the emotional and sexual lives of men and their partners," Professor Stanley E. Althof, of the Center for Marital and Sexual Health of South Florida, said in a news release. "Recently, the international sexual health community agreed that PE [premature ejaculation] should be defined as ejaculation occurring within approximately one minute of penetration that causes the patient distress. Now we need to work to develop treatments, and these encouraging results with PSD502 seem to be a step in the right direction."

Sciele Pharma plans to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the spray.

Premature ejaculation affects about one-third of U.S. men aged 18 to 59, which means it's twice as common as erectile dysfunction. No prescription treatments are approved in the United States to treat PE.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about premature ejaculation.

-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: Sciele Pharma Inc., news release, Nov. 19, 2009