Three hundred men with clinically diagnosed lifelong premature ejaculation (PE) from 31 centres in the UK, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, were randomised into two groups. Two hundred used the PSD502 spray, which contains 7.5mg of lidocaine and 2.5mg of prilocaine, and 100 used a placebo spray with no active ingredients.

Every time they had intercourse during the three-month study period, each couple measured the time from vaginal penetration to ejaculation with a stopwatch. The men were asked to abstain from sexual activity or masturbation for 24 hours before each recorded encounter.

The time from penetration to ejaculation increased from an average of 0.6 minutes to 3.8 minutes in the medicated group and to just 1.1 minutes in the placebo group.

When these figures were adjusted to take account of any variations between the two groups, these showed that the treatment group were able to last 6.3 times longer after penetration when they used the spray. The placebo group lasted 1.7 times longer.

“Premature ejaculation can be a very distressing condition for men and can cause distress, frustration and make them avoid sexual intimacy” says lead researcher Professor W Wallace Dinsmore from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, UK.