Bio-OriGyn LLC, of Spokane, has received a U.S. patent for its Pre-Seed vaginal lubricant, the companys first consumer product for human infertility.


The patent is Bio-OriGyns eighth, but its first U.S. patent for Pre-Seed, says company CEO Joanna Ellington. The other patents were for processes or non-consumer products. Pre-Seed also is patented in Australia, Ellington says.


Pre-Seed is touted as a sperm friendly lubricant that has been shown in laboratory studies to promote sperm function, which can be helpful to couples who are trying to conceive.


The product was introduced for retail sale in December on the Drugstore.com Web site. That outlet now says Pre-Seed is among its top 20 best-selling items for women. Drugstore.com charges $19.49 for a box of six Pre-Seed applications.


Ellington says Bio-OriGyn hopes to introduce Pre-Seed in retail stores late this year, and will be targeting pharmacies and mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart. Currently, the product is being made and packaged by Unicep Packaging Inc., of Sandpoint.


Bio-OriGyn, which employs six, expects sales of about $1 million this year, says Tom Daugherty, the companys chief operating officer.


Separately, Bio-OriGyn announced that it has received a $100,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, which enabled it recently to set up a 1,500-square-foot laboratory at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research & Technology Institute. Previously, Bio-OriGyns lab work was done under contract


At the new SIRTI lab, Bio-OriGyn will begin development of its next consumer product, tentatively called Pro-Cept, which is designed to enhance sperm function and movement. Ellington previously has said that Pro-Cept would be ready for sale in late 2004.


Pro-Cept will be a vaginal lubricant much like Pre-Seed, except that it will be classified as a drug, and so will have to undergo clinical trials before it can be approved for sale, Daugherty says.