Deirdre Gillespie, president and CEO of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company, also serves on the board of Apricus Biosciences, Inc. Apricus develops products to improve the sexual health and well-being of men and women alike. As a board member, Deirdre Gillespie works to make sure Apricus is on the fastest route to achieving its mission of developing quality products. Below are profiles of Apricus’ two primary products in development, Vitaros and Femprox.
Vitaros is novel in the sense that it treats erectile dysfunction with a topical, as opposed to internal, solution. The cream is applied directly to the member and works to increase blood flow immediately. It contains alprostadil, a known agent in aiding in erectile dysfunction. Vitaros is currently approved in Canada and Europe, and is expected to be launched into the market in 2014.
Femprox, the female analogue to Vitaros, treats female sexual dysfunction. Also like Vitaros, Femprox is a cream applied locally that works to create female arousal on an as-needed basis. Femprox also contains alprostadil. Though Femprox is not currently approved anywhere, Apricus is working to make it the first approved drug of its kind.
Deirdre Gillespie 