Today sponge

The Today sponge is a brand of plastic contraceptive sponge saturated with a spermicide nonoxynol-9 to prevent conception.[1] Within two years of its launch, Today had become the largest selling over-the-counter female contraceptive in the United States, and was soon rolled out into other markets.[2]

History

The Today sponge dates back to 1976 when it was created by Bruce Ward Vorhauer.[3] Vorhauer struggled for seven years to get the device approved and on the market. Following U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval,[4] the brand was rolled out in June 1983.[5] The product, manufactured by VLI Corp. of Irvine, California, was classified as "relatively safe" by the FDA in 1984.[6][7] A 1984 study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology compared it with the diaphragm and found that the Today sponge was a "safe and acceptable method of contraception with an effectiveness rate in the range of other vaginal contraceptives."[8][9][10] The Today sponge also broke the barrier in several markets for advertising contraceptive devices.

The Today sponge "was manufactured until 1995, when FDA imposed new manufacturing standards."[11] The product had several setbacks while marketed, including a link to toxic shock syndrome.[12] Personal financial problems forced Vorhauer to sell the entire manufacturing operation to American Home Products, now Wyeth. Almost the entire content of the facility was moved to the Whitehall-Robbins facility in Hammonton, New Jersey, from its original California home. The sponge was removed from the U.S. market in 1994 after problems were found at the facility related to the deionized water system. The water system, which was originally sized for much larger production, could not produce the small amounts of deionized water required for this one product and became repeatedly contaminated. Based on slumping sales and to avoid any further FDA issues, Wyeth stopped selling the sponge rather than move production or modify its plant.

In 1998, Allendale Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights to the Today sponge and it was once again available.[13] New FDA standards for manufacturing and record-keeping forced repeated delays, but the Today sponge was finally re-introduced in Canada in March 2003, and in the U.S. in September 2005. In January 2007, Allendale Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Synova Healthcare, Inc.[14] In December 2007 Synova filed for bankruptcy reorganization;[15] in 2008 the manufacturing rights to the Today sponge were purchased by Alvogen. In mid May 2009, Mayer Laboratories, Inc., the distributor of the Today sponge for the US, Canada and the EU, announced the Today sponge had been re-launched in the United States.[16] [17] [18]

At the end of 2019, Mayer Labs had issues with the equipment to manufacturer the Today sponge. As of the onset of the COVID pandemic, it is out of production with no information as to "when or if this situation will change."[19]

A 1995 Seinfeld episode, "The Sponge", revolved around Elaine's attempts to procure her favorite form of birth control, the discontinued Today sponge, and her rationing them based on whether a potential partner was "sponge-worthy".[20] This was later revisited in the series finale when the pharmacist testifies against Elaine for buying a case of sponges.

References
  1. Lockerm, Sari (2005). Today Sponge. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amazing Sex, p. 367. Penguin, ISBN 978-1-59257-327-1
  2. Day, Kathleen (January 22, 1985). VLI to Begin Marketing `Today' Sponge in Britain. Los Angeles Times
  3. Emmons, Steve (February 15, 1993). The final fall. Los Angeles Times
  4. FDA's approval of the Today contraceptive sponge: hearing before a subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, first session, July 13, 1983
  5. Granelli, James S. (October 19, 1985). VLI Reports. Los Angeles Times
  6. Day, Kathleeen (November 13, 1984). VLI Contraceptive Sponge 'Relatively Safe,' Says FDA. Los Angeles Times
  7. Millenson, Michael L. (January 12, 1984). Sales soar for firm's Today sponge contraceptives. Chicago Tribune
  8. Edelman DA, McIntyre SL, Harper J (1984). A comparative trial of the Today contraceptive sponge and diaphragm. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1984 Dec 1;150(7):869-76. PMID 6095664
  9. Edelman DA, North BB (1987). Parity and the effectiveness of the Today contraceptive sponge. Adv Contracept. 1987 Dec;3(4):327-33. PMID 3445801
  10. Berger KL, Remington K (1987). The prophylactic properties of the Today sponge and other spermicide containing contraceptives. Adv Contracept. 1987 Jun;3(2):125-31. PMID 2820207
  11. Schuiling, Kerri Durnell and Likis, Frances E. (2006). Jones & Bartlett Learning, ISBN 978-0-7637-4717-6
  12. Associated Press (December 7, 1983). Birth control device linked to toxic shock. The Free Lance-Star
  13. Rosenthal MS (2003). The Gynecological Sourcebook, p. 144. McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-140279-8
  14. George, John (2007-01-16). "Synova Healthcare finds company worthy of purchase". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
  15. "Synova Healthcare, maker of contraceptive sponge filed for bankruptcy". December 19, 2007.
  16. "Today Sponge Returns To Store Shelves". Mayer Laboratories, Inc. 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  17. "Todays® Sponge Returns To Store Shelves". Alvogen, Inc. 2009. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  18. "Mayer Labs Acquires Today(R) Sponge Distribution Rights". Biospace.com. 2009. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
  19. "Out of Stock". todaysponge.com. 2019. Archived from the original on April 26, 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  20. Lavery, David and Sara Lewis Dunne (2006). Seinfeld, master of its domain: revisiting television's greatest sitcom, p. 247. Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-8264-1803-6
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