LONDON - A drug designed to treat premature ejaculation works well and is safe, researchers said on Friday.

Dapoxetine, an antidepressant known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is the first treatment specifically for premature ejaculation.

Premature ejaculation affects between 27 and 34 percent of all men, according the the American Urological Association.

In two trials involving 2,600 men with premature ejaculation, the treatment developed by drug maker Johnson & Johnson's Alza Corporation unit was effective and delayed orgasm.

"On-demand dapoxetine is an effective and generally well tolerated treatment for men with moderate-to-severe premature ejaculation," Dr. Jon Pryor, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis who led the study, said a report in The Lancet medical journal.

Men in the studies received a placebo or the drug which they took one to three hours before having sex. After 12 weeks on the treatment there was a three- to four-fold increase in the time to ejaculation.

"Dapoxetine also improved patients' perceptions of control over ejaculation, satisfaction with sexual intercourse, and overall impression of change in conditions. Partners benefited through improved satisfaction with sexual intercourse," Pryor added.

Side effects of the drug included nausea, diarrhea, headache and dizziness.

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Last October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve the drug. The company said it would continue to develop the treatment and would address questions raised by the FDA.

Premature ejaculation affects more men than erectile dysfunction, the condition that made Pfizer Inc.'s impotence drug Viagra a blockbuster.

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