• by Les Luchter , February 18, 2025

Rugiet, a telehealth provider of men’s sexual health products, today added Go Long, a pill to combat premature ejaculation, to its product roster.

Go Long combines tadalafil, the generic form of erectile dysfunction (ED) drug Cialis, with paroxetine, the generic form of the antidepressant Paxil.

Although not approved by the FDA for sexual purposes, paroxetine elevates serotonin levels in the brain, which delays ejaculation, per British telehealth provider Numan.

Five-year-old Rugiet is no stranger to off-label sales of drugs not approved for sexual dysfunction use in the U.S., mostly with a history of doing so overseas.

One such offering is its flagship ED brand, Ready, a mint-flavored sublingual (dissolved under the tongue) which combines tadalafil with sildenafil, the generic version of Viagra, and with apomorphine, FDA-approved only to treat motor fluctuations associated with advanced Parkinson's disease.

“It has been approved in Europe and other areas of the world” to treat ED, “with really good success and a lot of data to support its use, as long as it’s given sublingually,” Rugiet co-founder and chief medical officer Vipul Khanpara tells Marketing Daily. Neither of the other two ingredients are FDA-approved for sublingual use either.

“The sildenafil and tadalafil work by increasing blood flow to the penis, but apomorphine works in a distinctly different way by acting on the dopamine receptors in the brain that are involved in the arousal process,” Khanpara explains. This “adds a second mechanism of action in the treatment of ED, which is what sets Rugiet apart from all other products on the market. “

Rougiet also has a third product, Boost, which is a cinnamon-flavored chewable version of tadalafil that Khanpara says is for patients who “want a lower-dose boost to their performance.”

Marketed through such vehicles as paid ads on Google and Meta, influencers and search engine optimization, with its “steepest growth through word-of-mouth,” per Khanpara, Rougiet’s approach of differentiated product seems to be working. In its five- year history, Khanpara says, the provider has treated close to 125,000 men through 400,000 orders.

Unlike with compounded weight loss drugs (and Khanpara has experience in this area, having launched FightingWeight.com, a sister business to Rugiet, just two months ago), Khanpara notes that compounded ED products haven’t experienced the kind of pushback that followed Hims & Hers recent anti-Big Pharma Super Bowl ad.

“The pushback with the compounded forms of the weight medication is mainly being driven by the pharmaceutical companies,” Khanpara explains. “It’s not from a safety concern, it’s due to a financial concern. They’re looking to capitalize on the market and keep others out. With ED, it’s a little bit different, because these patents have all expired.”