Women's Health

FDA approves innovative, new ‘spiral’ tampon shape

By
Social Links for Meghan Powers
Published Aug. 15, 2023
Updated Aug. 15, 2023, 1:04 p.m. ET

It’s not your mom’s tampon.

That’s the promise made by San Francisco-based startup Sequel, whose spiral tampon design was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration this month.

Since the tampon was invented to absorb menstrual flow in 1931, its design has remained largely the same.

That is until four years ago when Stanford classmates and Sequel co-founders Greta Meyer and Amanda Calabrese presented their new spiral tampon — featuring diagonal grooves — as a class project.

After receiving $5 million in funding and FDA approval, Meyer and Calabrese are ready to market Sequel as an “elevated product experience” for all who menstruate.

“The intent behind our design, which has this helical spiral indentation around the outside, is that those grooves are designed to make that flow path longer and therefore make [the tampon] absorb more easily,” Meyer told NBC News on Friday.

A typical tampon with a straight flow path is suggested to cause leakage.
Typical tampons have been around for 90 years with little innovation. Sequel’s newly FDA-approved design challenges the status quo flow. Sequel

The FDA deeming Sequel safe for consumers has been a “great milestone for the company,” Meyer continued, but there’s still a long way to go.

The menstrual product industry has historically resisted disruption. Though a handful of startups have focused on sustainable alternatives in recent years, Sequel instead seeks to differentiate itself through product design.

As Calabrese told the Wall Street Journal, “[Investors] see that you have players that have dominated this industry since the beginning of this product coming to market … and them not being challenged on the actual product level.”

Sequel's spiral flow path is suggested to use aa helical design for increased absorption.
Sequel’s website urges consumers to “consider the flow” of their new design, which attempts to increase the product’s absorption. Sequel

Sequel’s co-founders hope to partner with boutique fitness studios in the coming months, before selling spiral tampons online in late 2023.

In 2022, Tampax manufacturer Proctor & Gamble accounted for almost 40% of domestic tampon sales.

In order to shake up the industry, Sequel’s co-founders have focused on building a social media presence and visibility at festivals like South by Southwest, where they hosted a panel called “Periods on TikTok?! Using Content to Crush Stigmas.”