ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT00065858Updated Aug 19, 2016

Effectiveness of BufferGel as a Vaginal Contraceptive

A Phase 2/3 interventional study of BufferGel in Pregnancy, sponsored by Health Decisions. Completed at 9 sites in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 45 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2016-08-19.

Sponsored by Health Decisions · Phase 2/3, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Phase 2/3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
975
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 45 Years
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

BufferGel is a new contraceptive gel designed to be used with a diaphragm. In addition to preventing pregnancy, BufferGel may also prevent some types of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). This study will compare BufferGel to Gynol II, a currently available contraceptive gel.

Read the detailed description

Vaginal acidity is thought to be one means by which the vagina prevents overgrowth or colonization by harmful microbial flora. Sperm and many STD pathogens, including HSV-1 and HSV-2, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Treponema pallidum, Haemophilus ducreyi, and a variety of bacterial vaginosis-associated bacteria, are inactivated at pH less than 5 in vitro. BufferGel, a vaginal spermicide and microbicide, is an acidic buffer that maintains the vagina at or near its natural state of mild acidity. Formulated at vaginal pH (pH 3.9), BufferGel prevents or limits the semen-induced rise in vaginal pH. Carbopol 974P, the buffering agent in BufferGel, is a high molecular weight, cross-linked, polyacrylic acid used as a gelling or tableting agent in many pharmaceuticals; it has a well-documented record of mucosal safety in animals and humans. This study will determine the safety and contraceptive efficacy of BufferGel spermicide used with a diaphragm compared to Gynol II spermicide used with a diaphragm. The study will also measure the frequency of bacterial vaginosis, urinary tract infections, and cervical lesions in women using BufferGel compared with Gynol II.

Participants in this study will be fitted for a diaphragm and randomized to receive either BufferGel or Gynol II. All participants will be instructed on the use of the test product with the diaphragm. Participants will be followed through 6 menstrual cycles (approximately 7 months) and will have 4 study visits and one study phone call. Some participants may enroll in an extended version of the study and be followed for an additional 6 cycles and 2 additional study visits. Study visits will include a gynecologic exam, Pap smear, and blood and urine tests. Participants will be asked to keep a diary to record information on product use. Some participants may also be asked to enroll in a colposcopy substudy. These participants will undergo colposcopy at study entry and after cycles 1, 3 and 6.

02

Conditions studied

  • Pregnancy

Keywords

  • Contraception
  • Nonoxynol 9
  • Microbicide
  • Spermicide
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Health Decisions is the lead sponsor of 8 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 45 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • General good health
  • Sexually active, at risk for pregnancy, and desiring
  • Low-risk for or STD infection
  • Single sexual partner who is at low-risk for HIV or STD infection for 6 months prior to study entry
  • Expect to have same sexual partner for duration of the study
  • Normal cyclic menses with a usual length of 21 to 35 days
  • Documented history of at least two spontaneous, normal menstrual cycles since delivery, abortion, or after discontinuing hormonal contraception/hormonal therapy
  • Willing to accept a risk of pregnancy
  • Willing to engage in an average of 1 to 2 acts of heterosexual vaginal intercourse per week for a period of 6 months
  • Willing to be fitted with a diaphragm and use the diaphragm with test product during all acts of heterosexual vaginal intercourse for the duration of the study
  • Willing to only use the test product with diaphragm as the sole method of contraception over the course of the study (with the exception of emergency contraceptive pills when indicated)
  • Capable of using the product and diaphragm properly
  • Willing to keep a diary to record coital information, product use information, information about the use of other vaginal products, and sign and symptom data for self and partner
  • Agree not to participate in any other clinical trials during the course of the study
  • Written to participate in the trial

Participant's Sexual Partner Must Not Be/Have

  • Infertile
  • Treated for Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the 6 months prior to study entry
  • HIV infected
  • More than one sexual partner in the 4 months prior to study entry
  • Engaged in homosexual intercourse
  • Shared injection drug needles in the 6 months prior to study entry
  • Allergy or sensitivity to spermicides or products containing Nonoxynol 9 or latex

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria

  • Pregnant or desire to become pregnant during the course of the study
  • History of infertility or conditions that may lead to infertility
  • Allergy or sensitivity to spermicides or products containing Nonoxynol 9 or latex
  • History of toxic shock syndrome (TSS)
  • Two or more urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the 12 months prior to study entry
  • Current suspected or diagnosed urinary tract infection or vaginitis
  • to pregnancy (medical condition or chronic use of medications contraindicated for pregnancy)
  • Treated with antibiotics for pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) without a subsequent intrauterine pregnancy
  • More than one sexual partner in the 4 months prior to study entry
  • Shared injection drug needles in the 6 months prior to study entry
  • infected or suspected HIV infection
  • Genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection with the first occurrence (initial episode) within 3 months prior to study entry or have clinical evidence of HSV on exam
  • Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the 3 months prior to study entry
  • Lactating or breastfeeding
  • Abnormal vaginal bleeding or spotting in the month prior to study entry
  • Lower abdominal or pelvic pain in the month prior to study entry
  • Abnormal finding on pelvic examination which, in the view of the study investigator, precludes participation in study
  • Vaginal or cervical irritation, including vaginal or cervical epithelial disruption, ulceration, bleeding, petechiae, sloughing, or areas of obvious erythema
  • Vaginal or cervical or surgery in the 3 months prior to study entry
  • Vaginal or systemic antibiotics, antivirals, or antifungals in the 14 days prior to study entry
  • Depo-Provera injection in the 10 months prior to study
  • Vaginal or cervical abnormality that would interfere with the proper placement and retention of test product and diaphragm
  • Abnormal Pap smear in the 12 months prior to study entry
  • Consume (on average) greater than 2 to 3 alcoholic beverages per day
  • Drug abuse (recreational, prescription, or OTC) in the 12 months prior to study entry
  • drug or device use in the month prior to study entry
  • Previously participated in or completed this study
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(6)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2 / Phase 3
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double
Enrollment
975 participants

Interventions

06

Study locations

9 sites
  • California Family Health Council
    Berkeley, California, United States
  • California Family Health Council
    Los Angeles, California, United States
  • University of Colorado
    Denver, Colorado 80045, United States
  • New York University
    New York, New York 10016, United States
  • Columbia University
    New York, New York 10032, United States
  • University of Cincinnati
    Cincinnati, Ohio 45267, United States
  • University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
  • University of Pittsburgh
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
  • Eastern Virginia Medical School
    Norfolk, Virginia 23507, United States
07

References and documents

Publications

  • Barnhart KT, Rosenberg MJ, MacKay HT, Blithe DL, Higgins J, Walsh T, Wan L, Thomas M, Creinin MD, Westhoff C, Schlaff W, Archer DF, Ayers C, Kaunitz A, Das S, Moench TR. Contraceptive efficacy of a novel spermicidal microbicide used with a diaphragm: a randomized controlled trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2007 Sep;110(3):577-86. doi: 10.1097/01.AOG.0000278078.45640.13. PubMed 17766603 ↗
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
Not marked actual or estimatedDates not marked actual or estimated

The record gives a start of Sep 2001 and a completion of Apr 2005. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Aug 1, 2003
First posted
Aug 5, 2003
Start
Sep 2001
Completion
Apr 2005
Last update
Aug 19, 2016
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 19, 2016, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00065858
Lead sponsor
Health Decisions
First posted
Aug 5, 2003
Start date
Sep 2001
Completion
Apr 2005
Last update
Aug 19, 2016

Study contacts

H. Trent MacKay, MD, MPH
study director · Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2016. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

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Studies of the drug tested here: BufferGel

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