The drug dapoxetine should be in pharmacies by April, according to a Johnson and Johnson spokesman.  Unfortunately for the millions of men suffering from premature ejaculation, the medication will only be available in Europe.  For now.

Dapoxetine belongs to the category of drugs known as SSRI’s and can be used on demand (similar to erectile dysfunction medicine) to cause a delay in ejaculation of at least several minutes in most men suffering from premature ejaculation.

Other SSRI’s such as Zoloft and Paxil are currently widely used for the problem, but they are not officially approved for this use, and do not work in an “on demand” fashion.

Dapoxetine was denied FDA approval in 2005 for reasons that were not clearly elucidated.  Speculation was that the medication had an unfavorable interaction with alcohol or might be associated with some unfavorable mood changes.

Johnson and Johnson is considering reapplying to the FDA, armed with additional research information.