Synova Healthcare Group Inc. asked the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware on Tuesday for Chapter 11 protection and said it will sell its businesses to pay off debt.
Based in Media, Pa., Synova also makes products that detect menopause and vaginal infections.
It has survived on borrowed money since 2005 and said it is unable to find more money to borrow. In court documents, it listed assets of about $21 million and liabilities of almost $27 million.
Earlier this year, Synova bought a New Jersey company that had begun selling the Today Sponge in 2005. A decade earlier, the prior maker had pulled it from shelves because of manufacturing deficiencies found by federal inspectors. At the time, the Today sponge was the favorite over-the-counter birth control product of women.
In an attempt to reintroduce the product to women accustomed to taking a pill, Synova touted the sponge's hormone-free "spontaneity, convenience, and comfort." The polyurethane sponges, inserted vaginally, contain spermicide designed to prevent pregnancy for 24 hours.
Its disappearance from stores in 1995 prompted hoarding by loyal users and became the fabric of a "Seinfeld" episode in which the character Elaine searches desperately throughout New York City to snap up any of the sponges left in stores.
In one scene, she tells a pharmacist that she'll buy his last remaining case of 60. Worries about protecting her sponge supply soon affected Elaine's dating life. Lucky men were labeled "sponge-worthy."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
