A condom coated with an antiviral gel, VivaGel, is poised to be the next big thing in sexual and reproductive health, thanks to Australian pharmaceutical company Starpharma. The gel was recently approved by Australia’s regulatory agency for medical drugs and devices — Therapeutic Goods Administration — after satisfactory performance and safety tests were run.

VivaGel contains astodrimer sodium, which is a non-antibiotic, antimicrobial drug that attacks STIs like HIV. The active ingredient in the gel prevents viruses from binding to human cells by attaching itself to the viruses. The gel reportedly deactivates up to 99.9 per cent of HIV, genital herpes, and human papillomavirus cases.

Starpharma teamed with the Australian condom company Ansell to make the VivaGelcoated prophylactics available for sale in the coming months. Ansell controls 70 per cent of the condom market down under.

Ansell was also granted global production and distribution rights for the rest of the world, except Japan – where approval for distribution has already been granted.

The standards and procedures of drug regulatory bodies around the world will affect how soon the product is made available in other countries.