Nanjing Red Sun to invest in Hainan Kunning to accelerate development of paraquat antidote 04-11-2020

On March 24, Nanjing Red Sun Co. Ltd. (Nanjing Red Sun) announced that on March 23, the company signed an “Investment Framework Agreement” with Hainan Kunning Biotechnology Ltd. (Hainan Kunning).


With this agreement, Nanjing Red Sun plans to invest RMB 26.4 million  (USD 3.8 million) in Hainan Kunning and gain a majority holding in the company. After the investment, the company’s total assets will increase to RMB 30.3 million (USD 4.4 million), of which Nanjing Red Sun will own RMB 20.3 million (USD 2.9 million), an overall share of 67%. Hainan Kunning is a company that specializes in using advanced technology for the research of antidotes against pyridine pesticides such as paraquat, performing optimization research, animal tests, clinical trials, and biochemical production. Furthermore, Hainan Kunning signed an agreement with the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences for the development and production of an antidote against paraquat, as well as an agreement to transfer patent rights for this antidote to Hainan Kunning.


Hainan Kunning has already small and medium scale clinical trials and is awaiting permission from China’s State Food and Drug Administration to begin production of an antidote formula and to introduce this formula to the market. Hainan Kunning’s antidote formula has been shown to be safe in animal trials and will likely become an important medicine for humans. Nanjing Red Sun and Hainan Kunniung have established a friendly cooperative relationship in order to expeditiously develop an effective antidote against paraquat.


In spite of the wide use of paraquat, an antidote has remained out of reach

Paraquat is the second most widely used herbicide in the world. Due to paraquat’s ability to kill weeds without harming plant roots, avoid affecting land arability, avoid runoff, lose toxicity after reaching soil, avoid polluting the water below farmland, as well as its fast effect and ability to remain effective through rain, paraquat is used widely to kill weeds and protect crops.


Despite its wide use throughout recent decades, if a human or animal accidentally ingests paraquat, there is no known antidote that may be used to treat paraquat’s negative side effects. This has led to a number of countries, including China, temporarily banning the use of paraquat. However, throughout most of the world, paraquat is still used due to its irreplaceable nature as an effective herbicide.


Patent requested for new potential paraquat antidote formula

A possible antidote against paraquat has been the subject of much research by experts and scholars throughout the years, but until recently, no research breakthrough occured. However, Chinese experts and professors using a combination of biological and chemical technologies may have recently succeeded in developing the world’s first paraquat antidote formula, for which a patent has already been requested, which includes a method for producing the antidote and a medicinal formula for providing emergency treatment after paraquat ingestion. The patent also gives rights to all products or formulas that may arise as a direct result of this new formula. 


For more information on China’s herbicide market, please check our Herbicides China News.

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