Today Sponge Contraceptive to Be Sold Again

The maker of the Today Sponge contraceptive, pulled from the market a decade ago, said that federal regulators will allow its sale once again.

Manufacturer Allendale Pharmaceuticals said the FDA approved U.S. sales of the sponge, which was the favorite nonprescription birth control product of women when it was withdrawn from the market in 1995. The polyurethane sponges, which have been on sale in Canada and over the Internet since March 2003, will be available shortly through a company website. Soon after that, the product will be available at retail drug chains, followed by supermarkets and mass marketers such as Wal-Mart.

Allendale bought rights to sell the Today Sponge several years ago from the prior manufacturer, Wyeth of Madison, Wis. Wyeth, then called American Home Products, had stopped making the sponge. Although the device's effectiveness and safety were never questioned, Wyeth opted against upgrading its Hammonton, N.J., manufacturing plant in the mid-1990s after the FDA found deficiencies there.