The maker of the Today Sponge, once lampooned on Seinfeld when the contraceptive was pulled from stores, has filed for bankruptcy. Synova Healthcare Group Inc. has asked the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware for Chapter 11 protection and said it will sell its businesses to pay off debt.

The company has survived on borrowed money since 2005 and said it is unable to find any more. In court documents on Tuesday, Synova listed assets of about US$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 the contraceptive from shelves because of manufacturing deficiencies found by federal inspectors. At the time, the Today sponge was the favourite over-the-counter birth-control product of women.

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 to snap up any of the sponges left in stores.

In one scene, she tells a pharmacist she’ll buy his last remaining case of 60. Worries about protecting her sponge supply soon affected Elaine’s dating life. Lucky men were labelled “sponge-worthy.”

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 contain spermicide designed to prevent pregnancy for 24 hours.

Based in Media, Pa., Synova also makes products that detect menopause and vaginal infections.