A popular over-the-counter contraceptive that inspired a Seinfeld episode about "sponge-worthy" men has a new owner with plans for a renewed marketing push.

The Today Sponge, a favorite nonprescription birth-control product for women before it was withdrawn from the market in 1995, has been acquired by Synova Healthcare Group Inc., of Media.

Synova said yesterday that it had bought Allendale Pharmaceuticals Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at more than $16 million. Allendale bought the rights to the Today Sponge in 1998 from American Home Products Corp., which is now Wyeth.

Between 1983 and 1995 -- when the Today Sponge was taken off the market because of deficiencies at the manufacturing plant -- about 250 million sponges were sold.

Wyeth quit making the sponge in late 1994 rather than upgrade a manufacturing plant in Hammonton, N.J., that made a variety of the company's products. The Food and Drug Administration had cited the plant for water and bacterial contamination, but never questioned the sponge's safety.

In 1995, the disappearing sponge was depicted on the television comedy Seinfeld, when the character Elaine scoured stores for her favorite birth control, and stretched her supply by setting "sponge-worthy" standards for dates.

After Allendale, of Allendale, N.J., secured FDA approval to get it back on the market, the sponge had been sold since 2003 in Canada and since late 2005 by U.S. retailers, including CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Target, Pathmark and Wal-Mart, and online at Amazon.com and Drugstore.com. It retails for about $7.99 for a three-pack, Synova said.

While the pill and sterilization have long been the top choices of women who use contraception, the sponge was popular among women who had problems with prescribed hormonal contraceptives or difficulty with more complex inserted devices. The sponge, which contains a spermicide, was easy to use and did not require a doctor's visit.

Synova Healthcare plans to aggressively advertise and market the sponge, chairman and chief executive officer Stephen E. King said. "We are working on a three-phase campaign that says 'the sponge is back.' Initially, for the first 120 days, we plan a very aggressive public relations and Internet advertising campaign. That will be followed up around the first week of May with a broad-reaching multimedia campaign incorporating TV, radio and print."

At the same time, the company will reach out to the medical community. "There is a big group, the OB-GYN community, that is unaware this product is back," King said.

King, who worked previously at Wyeth and GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C., was a founder of Synova in 2003 to sell women's health-care products, including over-the-counter diagnostic tests.

"This was a great product. Revenues in 1995 exceeded $15 million a year," King said. The sponge was used by an estimated 6.5 million women between 1983 and 1995.

King would not disclose the 2006 sales of the Today Sponge.

"We believe this product enjoys a loyal customer base, which, when combined with our broad retail distribution and our core competency of developing women's health brands, should provide our company with a positive opportunity for long-term business growth," King said.

Synova Healthcare has 12 employees and sells two licensed over-the-counter diagnostic tests to help women detect menopause and vaginal infections. The company has licensed a third product, a treatment for hemorrhoids.

Allendale will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Synova, which had $200,000 in net revenue in 2005, but is not yet profitable.

Shares of Synova closed yesterday up 18.5 percent, or 19.5 cents, at $1.25.

The Today Sponge of Yesteryear and Now

1983: The Today contraceptive sponge is approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

January 1995: Whitehall-Robins Healthcare withdraws the sponge after the FDA discovers high rates of bacteria at its Hammonton, N.J., plant.

December 1995: "Seinfeld" episode airs in which the Elaine Benes character debates whether her current boyfriend is "sponge-worthy" after learning that the birth control method is in short supply.

1998: Allendale Pharmaceuticals Inc. buys the rights to the Today Sponge from American Home Products Corp., the parent of Whitehall-Robins.

2003: Allendale reintroduces the sponge in Canada.

2005: The FDA approves the product for sale in the United States.

Yesterday: Synova Healthcare Group Inc. buys Allendale and promises to ramp up marketing of

the sponge.