Philadelphia — FMC Corporation and Japan-based Kumiai Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. on March 5 announced that they have entered into an exclusive agreement to evaluate a new herbicide discovered by Kumiai for potential global development and commercialization. Kumiai and Ihara Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. discovered the chemistry in their research labs, and Kumiai is partnering with FMC to evaluate and develop its commercial potential. The companies will evaluate the chemistry on a number of global crops and weed problems over the coming years. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. "Our relationship with Kumiai is an extremely important one for FMC’s agricultural business, and I am delighted to be working with Kumiai on this new active ingredient, and we expect to progress rapidly in our evaluations," said Milton Steele, president of FMC Agricultural Products Group. "The chemistry is a new herbicide that offers the potential to address some of the emerging herbicide resistance problems that farmers all over the world are experiencing.” According to Dr. Eisuke Ishihara, president of Kumiai, “Working with a proven partner such as FMC on the evaluation and potential development of this new chemistry is a sign of our company’s vision to maximize the value of our rich chemistry pipeline, through appropriate and strategic global partnerships. Collaborating with FMC and their growing innovation and commercial organization will help us supply new and innovative products to the global crop protection industry.”
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