Genitourinary (GU) conditions account for a major source of distress for millions of people throughout the world. While many GU conditions are manageable, patients often do not seek treatment due to either the dismissal of these conditions as "merely quality of life" issues or the embarrassment and misunderstanding associated with their symptoms and conditions. In response, Pfizer is working to help these patients. Our goal is to restore dignity to those suffering from GU conditions and help improve their quality of life.
Indications for medicines currently in phases of development, from Phase I through recent approval:
Sexual Health includes:
Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) : A collective term used for a group of conditions affecting women's sexual desire, their ability to achieve (or sustain) a feeling of arousal, their ability to orgasm and/or the experience of pain during intercourse. FSD affects an estimated 40 percent of women worldwide. Pfizer is working to discover a novel treatment for women who are distressed by this condition.
Male Erectile Dysfunction : The inability to achieve or maintain an erection capable of penetration and sexual intercourse.
Premature Ejaculation : A lack of voluntary control over ejaculation usually occurring with minimal sexual stimulation, often before or shortly after penetration.
Hot Flashes : Usually a symptom of menopause characterized by the sensation of heat in the face and neck and sometimes associated with night sweats.
Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
The collective term for an overlapping set of symptoms caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia (non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland) and/or overactive bladder. These symptoms include increased urgency and frequency of needing to pass urine; the need to go to the bathroom two or more times a night (nocturia); incontinence; poor urine flow and straining to pass urine. These symptoms have a profound impact on the quality of life of millions of patients worldwide, often leading to social isolation, depression, lack of sleep, and acute embarrassment. Pfizer is working to better understand patients' needs in order to help create a more patient-centric, symptom-related diagnosis, as well as novel treatments to relieve patients' symptoms.
Incontinence : The inability to control the flow of urine from the bladder.
Overactive Bladder : A condition in which the muscle in the bladder (the detrusor) is too active, causing frequent, strong and sudden urges to urinate even when the bladder is not full. In addition to urgency, symptoms include urinary frequency and involuntary leakage of urine.
Stress Incontinence : The involuntary leakage of urine from the bladder caused by a sudden rise of pressure in the abdomen, often due to coughing, sneezing or laughing.
Mixed Incontinence : The involuntary leakage of urine due to a combination of overactive bladder and stress incontinence.