VIAGRA and its pitchman, Bob Dole, turned erectile dysfunction into a modern man’s malady.

Out went impotence, an unfashionable condition that nobody wanted to discuss with his doctor or lover, and in came E.D., an in-the-know abbreviation for erectile dysfunction that neatly dovetailed with other pop-cultural acronyms like O.M.G. and L.O.L.

Now brace yourselves for P.E.  shorthand for premature ejaculation.

Johnson & Johnson has developed Priligy, a pill aimed at men who ejaculate before copulating or within seconds of beginning. Priligy, which is intended to help prolong latency time before orgasm, went on sale earlier this year in nine countries, but it has not been approved for sale in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration.

Meanwhile, Sciele Pharma, based in Atlanta, plans to seek approval from the agency next year to market a prescription drug in the form of a metered-dose aerosol sprayed on the skin that is intended to increase latency time. Company representatives have been making the rounds of medical conferences and meeting journalists, trying to drum up sympathy and attention for premature ejaculation as a widespread medical problem in need of a drug intervention.

“P.E. is more prevalent than E.D.,” Joseph T. Schepers, the company’s director of investor relations and corporate communications, told me when his team came to the office this week as part of a press tour in Manhattan. “One in three men actually have the condition.”