The product, RepelloX, was developed by the university's Institute of Chemical Technology, InnoVenton.
Consequently, the NMMU has reached an agreement with a local company, Afrepell Manufacturing, which will produce the products and commercialise it around the world.
InnoVenton‘s Geoff Ritson said: “Afrepell Manufacturing has already entered into agreements with Koram Ltd in the United Kingdom and Koram USA Inc in the United States to market RepelloX products and technology internationally.”
He said presentations have already been made to senior management at five major multinational corporations, all of which are significantly involved in the marketing of insect repellent products both in personal care and household products.
“We have transferred the technology to Afrepell which will handle the manufacturing of the products.”
The new generation repellents, which were patented last year in South Africa, should hit retail outlets by the first quarter of next year, said Ritson.
RepelloX is a complete departure from the repellents that currently exist in the market, which Ritson said have not seen much technological revolution since they were first introduced in the 1940s.
According to Dr Ilse Asquith, a RepelloX co-inventor, no two individuals have the same attractiveness for biting insects like mosquitos. “This is the reason why two people around the same campfire, for example, will experience different numbers of mosquito bites. Just as humans differ from one person to the next, insects also differ in their ability to detect prey, hence the reason why fewer receptive persons still get bitten.”
Despite these variations, current products still depend on a single substance to address all these differences. “The substance is known as deet. It is, by far, the most common insect repellent active substance used in insect repellent products.”
However, Ritson said RepelloX would be manufactured through mixing different chemicals. “All of them are approved by food and pharmaceutical companies, and are therefore safe, even for children.
“They don‘t even smell, and I think these are critical components of our value proposition,” he said.
Repellox, he said, had many potential advantages, including improved efficacy, improved safety and improved consumer acceptance.
As part of the university‘s social responsibility programme, Ritson said there was an agreement that Afrepell must make RepelloX available to vulnerable communities and humanitarian organisations at low prices.
“It is important for institutions of higher learning to be at the cutting-edge of technological developments, otherwise there is no point of us being there,” he said.
“NMMU is a serious shareholder in Afrepell. We will be generating money for the university through RepelloX.”
The RepelloX range will be available in lotion form, applied to the skin or in vapourised form.
Source: Weekend Post
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