(Redirected from Betadine). Betadine is a stable chemical complex of polyvinylpyrrolidone (povidone, PVP) and elemental iodine. It contains from 9.0% to 12.0% available iodine, calculated on a dry basis.This unique complex was discovered in 1955 at the Industrial Toxicology Laboratories in Philadelphia by H. A. Shelanski and M. V. Shelanski.etadine was immediately marketed, and has since become the universally preferred iodine antiseptic. Betadine is only sold for the purpose of healing wounds, and not as an oral sore throat gargle, as widely thought.