Minnesota-invented patch for premature ejaculation gains FDA clearance

A Minnesota company’s electrified men’s sexual health patch — once the victim of late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes — is coming to consumers.

Morari Medical, based in Maple Grove, raised millions of dollars ahead of receiving Food and Drug Administration clearance Tuesday. The device — called “MOR” — is a drug- and chemical-free approach to delaying ejaculation using the body’s electrical signals, founder and chief executive Jeff Bennett said.

The device’s clearance provides another option for treating premature ejaculation as consumers are more often buying sexual health products despite persisting stigma, Bennett said. Shoppers can now find sexual health devices and pills at stores as common as Target as well as direct-mail pharmacies like Hims.

“The reality is: Sexual health and wellness is a huge unmet need, and a lot of advances are happening,” he said.

MOR is a patch placed on the perineum between the scrotum and anus. It sends mild electrical impulses that confuse ejaculatory nerves before they communicate with the brain to trigger an ejaculation, Bennett said.

Dr. Dicken Ko, a urologist who has served as collaborator for Morari, said premature ejaculation occurs because of a combination of factors including physiological stress, erectile dysfunction and anxiety. Between 20% and 30% of men experience it during their lifetime, he said, and doctors typically address it with medication and topical anesthetics. But those can have side effects, he added.

Bennett previously worked at Fridley-run Medtronic, where he learned about neural stimulation devices using electrical energy to inhibit or intensify the impact of nerves communicating with areas of the body. This can manage maladies such as overactive bladders, Parkinson’s disease and heart arrhythmias, he said.

“Knowing that neural stimulation could help inhibit nerves in other areas of the body, I just had this idea of, ‘Let’s take it down there,’” Bennett said.

Bennett described the feeling of the patch as “quite pleasant.”

“It’s kind of a tingling sensation that you get,” Bennett said.

If someone has excess body fat or hair, “it may take a little bit more power to get the effect,” Bennett said. Users can change stimulation patterns using the device’s app based on their preference, he said.

The company performed a feasibility study with 10 couples, Bennett said. It then tested MOR for electrical safety, cybersecurity and biocompatibility, including checking the adhesive “didn’t cause any [skin] issues.”

The FDA cleared the device indicated for stimulating “healthy perineal muscles and nerves in adult males to improve or enhance sexual performance,” according to an agency document.

Dr. Eli Coleman, professor emeritus of his Institute for Sexual and Gender Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School, called the device a great development as “there’s no one treatment that fits all men.”

The concept came together in 2019, Bennett said. Two years later, it faced jokes on national television when the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host said “this is an app-based device that I won’t be loading.”

People can feel ashamed to acknowledge sexual health, Bennett said, but joking about it can make it easier.

“Let’s face it: If it wasn’t for sex, we wouldn’t be here,” Bennett said. “Everybody has it. Everybody likes it. People want to talk about it when you create that environment that’s safe.”

Morari is launching a 100-customer pilot at the end of March, a 400-customer launch after that and then a limited launch in a test market, which might be Minneapolis, Bennett said.

A starter kit will cost $299, including a reusable generator, six single-use patches and a charging system. The company is working with Maple Grove-based Nextern to manufacture the device.

The company has raised $3.2 million, Bennett said, and is looking to raise an additional $5 million through a series-A investment round later this year.

Having received regulatory clearance after working on the device for more than half a decade “feels like the world’s been lifted from my shoulders,” he said.