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WASHINGTON — The first “female Viagra” came one step closer to coming to market as a key advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration voted Thursday afternoon to recommend that the FDA approve the drug with conditions.

The committee voted 18-6 to recommend that the FDA approve flibanserin, a drug designed to boost the low sexual desire of otherwise healthy women.

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The FDA usually follows the recommendations of its advisory committees, but not always. Its decision is expected by the end of the summer. The agency has already rejected the drug twice, saying the potential side effects of fainting, nausea, dizziness, sleepiness and low-blood pressure outweighed its benefits.

Even on Thursday, the committee described the drug benefit as “moderate” or “marginal.”

But after an afternoon of emotional testimony from women who suffer from low sexual desire, a condition called Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, the majority of committee members said that, with proper warning labels and education, the drug should be made available to women who now have nothing.