Female Libido in Menopause: Desire Loss, Biology & Solutions with Cindy Eckert
2/10/20261 hr 8 min
This week on unPaused, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Cindy Eckert, founder and CEO of Sprout Pharmaceuticals and creator of Addyi, the first FDA approved treatment for low libido in women. Cindy is a pharmaceutical entrepreneur who began her career at Merck before founding her first company in 2007, focusing on undermarketed FDA approved products. After successfully building and selling a male sexual health company, she became the only woman running a sexual health company and witnessed firsthand the stark contrast between how medicine treats male versus female sexual dysfunction. Her journey to bring Addyi to market became...
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMary Claire Haver· Host0:00
No one really owns this part for women. They do for men, it's urology- Absolutely right ... kind of dry.
Cindy Eckert· Guest0:05
That's right.
Mary Claire Haver· Host0:05
So- Yes ... but usually it, it falls under psychiatry.
Cindy Eckert· Guest0:08
I know. [laughs] I can't even. I mean, that is like, that is the biggest misconception, though, that everything that goes wrong for women as it relates to sex is rooted in emotion, and everything that goes wrong for men is rooted in biology, and that is the big diff.
Mary Claire Haver· Host0:26
[upbeat music] The views and opinions expressed on Unpaused are those of the talent and guests alone, and are provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. No part of this podcast or any related materials are intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. I first met today's guest, Cindy Eckert, many years ago, long before the Galveston Diet or menopause education was even on my radar. At the time, I was a practicing general academic OBGYN. My world was pregnancies, deliveries, emergency surgeries, and the day-to-day rhythm of patient care. Cindy was speaking at a women's conference in Phoenix about her company, Sprout Pharmaceuticals, and the female low libido drug she had developed and brought to market called Addyi. But what struck me that day wasn't the drug, it was her conviction that female sexual health was real, important, and worthy of science funding and conversation.