Study: P&G's Intrinsa Doesn't Work; Reflects Badly on Noven and Pharma Unit Sale

(MoneyWatch)  More bad news for Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals: a study review found that its sex-drive-enhancer for women, Intrinsa, doesn't work and its safety record is in doubt.

This will not reflect well on Noven, which last year entered a partnership with P&G to boost the packaged-goods company's pipeline with another would-be female Viagra, a low-dose testosterone patch. Although Noven has nothing to do with P&G's Intrinsa, the news illustrates -- again -- that graveyard of failure that is the "female Viagra" category.

It also doesn't help P&G's attempt to sell its pharma business, which includes Actonel and Asacol. Analysts think that deal won't get done until 2010, because sales at the unit are so slow.

The Intrinsa study result was predictable. Reuters:

"The published evidence so far [for Intrinsa] is based on highly selected women and only shows small improvements in sexual parameters and large placebo responses," Ike Iheanacho, editor of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, which published the review of published studies.

"Also the long term safety of the treatment is unknown. Unwanted side effects are common and not always reversible. For all these reasons, we cannot recommend Intrinsa for use in women with sexual dysfunction."

Intrinsa was never approved in the U.S. but is available in Europe. Its sales are negligible, and P&G never mentions the product in its earnings reports.

Aside from Intrinsa, which P&G licensed from Watson Pharmaceuticals, and the Noven patch, there have been a few other female sex drugs that have not exactly blown the lid off the category:

1. BioSante Pharmaceuticals is working on another testosterone skin patch, LibiGel.
2. Zestra is an OTC product now owned by Semprae Labs.
3. Berkeley Premium Neutraceuticals markets Avlimil, but it's a scam.

• See BNET's previous coverage of P&G Pharma:
• Why Johnson & Johnson Should Buy Prilosec From Procter & Gamble
• Noven and P&G Try "Viagra for Women" Despite History of Failure
• Will P&G Pharma Auction End the Company's Pursuit of "Viagra for Women"?