For years, manufacturers have gamely attempted to make condoms more fun to use, but alas, even the most delectably flavored varieties don’t compensate for that sterile, rubbery sensation. Now, a British biotech firm has taken on the challenge by developing the CSD500, a condom that prolongs a man’s erection—hence its unofficial nickname, the “Viagra condom.”
Unlike Viagra, CSD500 isn’t being marketed to men with erectile dysfunction, but rather, to guys who lose their erection while wearing a condom. The inside of the condom is slicked with vasolidating gel, which increases blood flow to the penis (interestingly enough, the active ingredient is used to treat chest pain caused by a lack of blood flow to the heart).
Although the concept sounds simple, even inevitable, engineering the condom was no easy feat. First, researchers needed to “immobilize” the gel in the condom so that it wouldn’t leak out or damage the latex. Once they stabilized the product, researchers could also boast that the gel keeps “Viagara condoms” from slipping off, thus preventing STI transmission.
So will we see this product on American shores anytime soon? At the moment, CSD500, which was developed by Future Medical and licensed to Durex, still requires regulatory approval in the U.K. To market the product in the United Sates, manufacturers will need to perform more clinical trials to secure FDA approval.
Although it might be awhile before you’ll see this product in drugstores, there’s no doubt that it could be instrumental in motivating people to practice safe sex. Recent developments in birth control, such as the patch, the NuvaRing, and the Pill, have been marketed to women so heavily that it’s about time men received an alternative to good old latex condoms. Since women endure dozens of side effects with their birth control, researchers will invariably have to study the long-term effects of vasolidating gel absoprtion. Until then, we anticipate the day when slipping on a condom won’t seem like such a drag.