Skip to main content
Script PT-141

A compliance-minded reading room on PT-141 (bremelanotide), the central melanocortin agonist studied for female sexual desire.

WHERE THE FACTS CAME FROM

Where can you find the PT-141 references?

The list names each study, review, and medicine label used here. It also gives you the details needed to find the source.

Return to the study summarySee PT-141 studies in women

Which source needs special care?

The largest Phase 3 studies, broad late tests reviewed before approval, found that women's desire rose a little. Nausea was common. Animal work offers one possible reason for how the drug acts, but it can't predict what you will feel. Newer reviews ask whether the gain matters enough in daily life. The official U.S. label names the approved group and main warnings. Numbered notes below lead to those sources.

One older study in men needs special care. Safarinejad & Hosseini published it in 2008. In 2023, the journal warned that readers may not be able to trust the paper. Treat its results as disputed, not as proof that the medicine works.

  1. Molinoff PB, Shadiack AM, Earle D, Diamond LE, Quon CY. PT-141: a melanocortin agonist for the treatment of sexual dysfunction. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003;994:96-102. ↗
  2. Pfaus J, Shadiack A, Van Soest T, Tse M, Molinoff P. Selective facilitation of sexual solicitation in the female rat by a melanocortin receptor agonist. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004;101:10201-10204. ↗
  3. Kingsberg SA, Clayton AH, Portman D, Williams LA, Krop J, Jordan R, Lucas J, Simon JA. Bremelanotide for the Treatment of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: Two Randomized Phase 3 Trials. Obstet Gynecol. 2019;134(5):899-908. ↗
  4. Simon JA, Kingsberg SA, Portman D, Williams LA, Krop J, Jordan R, Lucas J, Clayton AH. Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of Bremelanotide for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. Obstet Gynecol. 2019;134(5):909-917. ↗
  5. Thurston L, Hunjan T, Mills EG, Wall MB, Ertl N, Phylactou M, et al. Melanocortin 4 receptor agonism enhances sexual brain processing in women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. J Clin Invest. 2022;132(19):e152341. ↗
  6. Borland JM, Kohut-Jackson AL, Peyla AC, Hall MA, Mermelstein PG, Meisel RL. Female Syrian hamster analyses of bremelanotide, a US FDA approved drug for the treatment of female hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Neuropharmacology. 2025;267:110299. ↗
  7. U.S. Food and Drug Administration / DailyMed. Bremelanotide Injection — US Prescribing Information. DailyMed (US FDA structured product label). 2019. ↗
  8. Ronghe V, Pannase K, Gomase KP, Mahakalkar MG. Understanding Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) in Women: Etiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment. Cureus. 2023;15(12):e49690. ↗
  9. Hedlund P. PT-141 Palatin. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2004;5(4):456-462. ↗
  10. Kingsberg SA, Clayton AH, Pfaus JG. The Female Sexual Response: Current Models, Neurobiological Underpinnings and Agents Currently Approved or Under Investigation for the Treatment of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. CNS Drugs. 2015;29(11):915-933. ↗
  11. Mintzes B, Tiefer L, Cosgrove L. Bremelanotide and flibanserin for low sexual desire in women: the fallacy of regulatory precedent. Drug Ther Bull. 2021;59(12):185-188. ↗
  12. Toledo RG, Winkelman WD, Reyes-Gonzalez D, Bergeron S, Fladger A, Hacker MR. Female Sexual Desire, Arousal, and Orgasmic Dysfunctions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Treatment Options. J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2026. ↗
  13. Ashour AM. Clinical trial evidence on emerging pharmacological therapies for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women: a systematic review and analysis of completed studies registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. Front Med (Lausanne). 2026;13:1789809. ↗
  14. Cocchetti C, Ristori J, Mazzoli F, Vignozzi L, Maggi M, Fisher AD. Management of hypoactive sexual desire disorder in transgender women: a guide for clinicians. Int J Impot Res. 2020. ↗
  15. Krupke H, Zoratto N, Rabut L, Gao D, Paunović N, Klein Cerrejon D. A biodegradable suction patch for sustainable transbuccal peptide delivery. J Control Release. 2025;383:113947. ↗
  16. Dhillon S, Keam SJ. Bremelanotide: First Approval Drugs. 2019;79:1599-1606. ↗
  17. White WB, Myers MG, Jordan R, Lucas J. Usefulness of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to assess the melanocortin receptor agonist bremelanotide J Hypertens. 2017;35(4):761-768. ↗
  18. Clayton AH, Lucas J, DeRogatis LR, Jordan R. Phase I Randomized Placebo-controlled, Double-blind Study of the Safety and Tolerability of Bremelanotide Coadministered With Ethanol in Healthy Male and Female Participants Clin Ther. 2017;39(3):514-526.e14. ↗
  19. Clayton AH, Kingsberg SA, Portman D, Sadiq A, Jordan R, Lucas J, Spana C, Simon JA. Safety Profile of Bremelanotide Across the Clinical Development Program J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2022;31(2):171-182. ↗
  20. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (LiverTox). Bremelanotide - LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury NCBI Bookshelf (LiverTox). 2021. ↗
  21. Mestria S, Odoardi S, Frison G, Strano Rossi S. LC-HRMS characterization of the skin pigmentation and sexual enhancers melanotan II and bremelanotide sold on the black market of performance and image enhancing drugs. Drug testing and analysis. 2021. ↗
  22. Nelson ME, Bryant SM, Aks SE. Melanotan II injection resulting in systemic toxicity and rhabdomyolysis. Clinical toxicology (Philadelphia, Pa.). 2012. ↗
  23. Spana C, Jordan R, Fischkoff S. Effect of bremelanotide on body weight of obese women: Data from two phase 1 randomized controlled trials Diabetes Obes Metab. 2022;24(6):1084-1093. ↗
  24. Bardhan M, Anand A, Javed A, Chilo MA, Khan N, Garg T. Polymorphism of Melanocortin Receptor Genes-Association with Inflammatory Traits and Diseases. Diseases (Basel, Switzerland). 2025. ↗
  25. Hadley ME, Dorr RT. Melanocortin peptide therapeutics: historical milestones, clinical studies and commercialization. Peptides. 2006. ↗
  26. Al Shaer D, Al Musaimi O, Albericio F, de la Torre BG. 2019 FDA TIDES (Peptides and Oligonucleotides) Harvest. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland). 2020. ↗