PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).

A look at a PMU farm in China — and it’s not all about Pfizer

Posted on by Tuesday's Horse

Pfizer’s international market for Premarin is open game for competitors without the U. S. Food & Drug Administration’s protection of the company’s monopoly trade secret.

The key component for the production of Premarin is the estrogen rich urine collected from pregnant mares. This business has become commonly referred to as the pregnant mare’s urine or PMU industry.

In 2005, a Chinese company — Xinjiang Xinziyuan Biological Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. — was formed for the express purpose of creating a Chinese PMU industry based in northwest China’s Nilka County, located within the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Breeding of PMU mares and sales of pregnant mare’s urine has since become the “sunrise industry” for the regional rural farm economy, providing a significant increase in income for the farmers and incentive to expand production and number of horses.

Pfizer is stated to be the reason for establishing Xinjiang Xinziyuan Biological, but the relationship described between the two companies is inconsistent.

On one hand, Xinjiang Xinziyuan Biological’s founding purpose is to dominate Pfizer’s international Premarin market as a Chinese competitor, while on the other hand Pfizer is said to be the primary contractor for pregnant mare’s urine produced by the “sunrise industry” that Xinjiang Xinziyuan Biological’s created, and which supplies Pfizer with the pregnant mare’s urine to manufacture the Premarin products.

Whatever the true circumstances are concerning Pfizer, the magnitude of gross cruelty to horses resulting from the creation of a domestic market in China for equine estrogen projects is in itself unthinkable.

Chinese version of Premarin cream.
Chinese version of Premarin cream.

The number of middle-age women in China presently within the target demography for estrogen products exceeds the total population of the rest of world.

The corresponding number of horses required to meet China’s domestic demand annually is greater than the the total number of horses used for Premarin production during the 75 years since FDA approval in 1942.

Here’s what a pregnant mare’s urine farm in Xinyuan County, China looks like.

PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).
PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).

PMU Farm in Xinyuan County, China (2012).

This is only tip of the iceberg of what we will be bringing to your attention. The challenge has always been that the information we sought was quite naturally in Chinese. Now of course there are Chinese translation apps but as helpful as they are, they only get you so far.

We are working to find Chinese language translators with good English to help us not only with documentation but also to help us create alerts to the women in China through social media about the carcinogenic properties of drugs made with conjugated equine estrogens as declared by the World Health Organization. We are hopeful they will not be as blasé about it as American women seem to be. There are alternatives. Yet there may be a glimmer of hope on that horizon.

In the meantime, we have also received a tip that the bulk of PMU farms supplying Pfizer are actually in Latin America. Stay tuned.

43 thoughts on “A look at a PMU farm in China — and it’s not all about Pfizer”

    2. I do not understand why women would even risk their health using premarin. It causes breast cancer, breast cancer has been on the rise since the introduction of the HRT. I know and I am a survivor. I warn every woman I know or meet to find an alternative. If we stop using this, the horse will not have to suffer. IT IS NOT GOOD FOR US AND CAUSES AN UNDO HARDSHIP FOR THE HORSES. iT IS CRAZY.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. principal investigators had a chance to review and advise- this is UNTHINKABLE in the medical field! Also, results were NOT statistically significant- also UNTHINKABLE and UNCONSCIONABLE! 20 years later, we now know that was a VERY faulty study (one small example, the women were “healthy” but oh- 50% of them were current or previous smokers, which virtually increases the risk of EVERY disease sate!) That study did a lot of harm- FAR more harm than good, I’m completely disgusted. Oh, and by the way, most of the results were retracted and/or modified; in fact, estrogen alone has been shown to REDUCE the incidence of breast CA. By the way, CV disease is still number 1 cause of mortality in women and guess what protects, if initiated in timely manner? ESTROGEN! – if you still need proof, ask your oncologist to pull out the May issue of The Cancer Journal 2022. This information has been out for years but neither the public nor the press appears interested, sigh. . Let’s see how well he/she has kept up with the data because, sadly, the over-50 group of females is not a top concern of our society, sadly. Now, I’m all in favor of NOT harming animals or treating them cruelly, breaks my heart! But let’s not spread misinformation now that we have the truth backed by data on our side. In fact, working a night shift or drinking wine daily increases the risk of breast CA but I don’t see many women worried about THAT! Stick to what you know, people.

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  2. Surely life is created for these animals to have a happy, healthy life, something which is not happening for these horses and their foals. Totally inhumane and shocking. This needs to be stopped and now.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Humans continue to be selfish in their “needs”. This has got to be one of the most horrifying acts against animals. If we are not using animals for our entertainment, it is for food and religious acts. We are a deplorable lot. Who the hell thought of this absolutely stupid idea? Who thinks up this crap? To have a horse produce urine for medication?? Really?? You are eating horse pee! Think about it!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Concur wholeheartedly Laurie.

      The continuing tragedy is there are safer and better alternatives made from plants that are harmful to no one that I know of.

      This has been going on for decades. Imagine how many horses — mares but chiefly the byproducts foals — have been killed for it.

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  5. Reblogged this on Jodi's Journey Blog and Art and commented:
    This is soooooo NASTY! DO NOT USE hormone replacement drugs. They use urine from mares who are deprived of food and water in order to concentrate their urine. This is cruelty. There are better more natural ways to deal with hot flashes and hormone changes.

    Liked by 1 person

        1. I wish it were as simple as that Alan but understand your thoughts. Sad to say but all doctors young and old are prescribing Premarin drugs. Pharmaceutical salesmen are good at their jobs in selling it. When responding to our Dear Doctor letter warning doctors about it, they argue that it is no more dangerous than any other drug. And they have no interest at all in the mares and foals who suffer and die to make it. It is indeed a sad world we live in. There are alternatives but they are not made by Big Pharma so no kickbacks for medical professionals.

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      1. I don’t know about what they do in China but from what I have researched about North America, they don’t deprive them of food and water. They have changed the way they pay for the urine apparently and as such there is no incentive to “concentrate” the urine by withholding water. I have never heard or observed anything that says they withhold food so not sure where that comes from.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Thanks Jane. That is something that has been out there for years. I believe you were the first one to question it. As you say, who knows what they do in China.

          Liked by 1 person

      2. By depriving horses of water during pregnancy it causes the urine to become very concentrated in hormones. They collect the urine in bags that are strapped to them for months, in small stalls, unable to move around or even lie down, while they are pregnant. This urine is used in hormone replacement therapy products that women use.

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        1. Jodi.

          This is simply not true (anymore).

          The rancher’s contracts are now in grams of estrogen, not unit volume of urine. This means there is absolutely no incentive to restrict water.

          For example, it wouldn’t matter whether a cup of urine contained “X” grams of estrogen or whether a gallon of urine contained the same “X” grams of estrogen. They would each get paid the same amount.

          Also, it’s not like the mares are going to excrete more estrogen if given less water, they will excrete the same amount over their pregnancy term regardless of how much water they are given.

          Why make a horse suffer from thirst if this is the case. There is absolutely no reason to do so. None.

          These accusations are from years gone by. I am not supporting the PMU industry, just trying to bring truth to the table.

          Liked by 2 people

          1. We have tried to clarify this before via your reports and comments. But this piece of misinformation seems to have a life of its own. Thank you for taking the time to explain this. One has to wonder if the Chinese are aware of it.

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          2. Ummm, justify it all you want, No one should doing this to these horses period. Over breeding just to collect urine for products that are not safe to begin with. Are you there inspecting these facilities? Farms that produce animal products commit all kinds of cruelty and there has been plenty of it. Whether leaving the horses to be without water is to concentrate the urine or out of plain neglect doesn’t matter but it does happen.

            Liked by 2 people

            1. I am not justifying anything. I am simply putting facts out there. It may happen in China but it is not happening on the few farms (~22) that are left in Manitoba. Believe what you want, you are carrying things over from eons ago. No one is questioning cruelty, it surely exists, but out and out lies aren’t helping anything either. So I will put your same question back to you – are you inspecting these facilities? I have real connections, do you?

              Liked by 1 person

            3. We appreciate your comments defending these horses.

              Jane is an expert on PMU farming and the leading writer on this issue. She has covered it for us for years. Believe me. Jane is the last person to try to justify anything a PMU farmer or the whole rotten industry say or do.

              Liked by 2 people

        2. LOL all you want. Not a soul here has said these aren’t inhumane, of course they are, but your so-called
          fact” about the horses being deprived of water is fantasy. As I mentioned, the estrogen is collected by weight of the hormone in grams. Whether than is concentrated in a larger versus smaller volume of liquid, it is still the same amount of estrogen. It’s called science, lest you be confused.

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  8. Please keep us informed about these atrocities, otherwise about which I would know very little!! Thank you from horses, other concerned citizens, and myself.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you once again for bringing this disgusting industry out of the far away shadows where it now operates..as bad as these mares have it..I find myself shuddering to think of the foals that the industry creates and considers nothing more than by product to be disposed of..

      Liked by 1 person

    1. What do they do with all those foals? The fillies are probably used to cull the older mares out of the program, but what about the colts?

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      1. They’ll most likely eat them or send to horse meat markets in Europe. The Chinese give no shits about animal welfare!! THIS IS UNCONSCIONABLE!

        #1- IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL FOR DRUG COMPANIES TO PURCHASE ANY INGREDIENTS FOR DRUGS FROM ‘INDEPENDENT’ FARMERS OR THEIR AGENTS, INTENDED FOR THE USE OF MANUFACTURING DRUGS!!!

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        1. The “pee farms” used to be in the US and Canada. I believe the only ones left are in Manitoba region. Getting the equine estrogens this way to make these drugs has been going on for decades.

          And you are right about the slaughter. Foal meet in particulate is considered a delicacy. That’s where the mares end up too when they can no longer get pregnant.

          It is horrible. Imagine being pregnant and on your feet in those stalls day in and day out. The mares you saw turned out are the ones who will soon be foaling. Not being given a rest from the stalls.

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