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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for March 10, 2006
Copyright © Brakke Consulting, Inc.
Editor: Lynn Fondon, DVM, MBA
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IN THE NEWS:
earnings news
Bayer
CEVA
Embrex
other news
Alpharma
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica
Clorox
Henry Schein
Intervet
KMG Chemicals
Lucky Litter
Microgy
NLS Animal Health
Swift and Co.
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COMPANY EARNINGS RELEASES
> Bayer reported results for the year 2005. Animal Health group sales were EUR 856 million ($1,014 million), an increase of 9% compared to 2004. The increase was mainly the result of strong performance by Advantage product line in the US. Also contributing to growth were the launch of Advocate and Profender parasiticides in Europe and Canada. (company website)
> CEVA Sante Animale reported results for the full year 2005. The CEVA veterinary pharmaceutical group finished the 2005 financial year on consolidated turnover of EUR 271 million ($321 million), up 17.3% on 2004. On the same consolidation basis, turnover was up 7%. The Group achieved an exceptional performance in Europe with a special mention for the countries of Northern and Central Europe. Growth in Latin America and Asia also contributed to CEVA’s excellent results over the financial year as a whole. (company press release)
> Embrex, Inc. announced financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2005. Consolidated revenues in 2005 totaled $52.6 million, an increase of 8% over 2004 revenues. Embrex’s net income was $2.9 million for 2005, down 11% in comparison to net income of $3.3 million in 2004, due mainly to an increase in sales and marketing expense. (company website)
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COMING SOON!
PAIN MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS IN DOGS AND CATS
2006 UPDATED REPORT
In March 2005, Brakke Consulting published a report reviewing pain management in small animals, and the products used to treat pain. The new 2006 report updates this report with current sales data on the pain management products used in small animal practice, as well as news on new and developing products in the pain management area. Included are sections on nutraceuticals and joint support prescription diets. The introduction of Merial’s Previcox is given particular attention in the 2006 report.
The report also includes a survey of small animal veterinarians regarding their usage of pain management products, including NSAIDs, nutraceuticals, and the new joint support therapeutic diets.
The report will be completed in early April. Orders placed on or before March 31, 2006 are eligible for the early-bird discounted price of $4,995. Orders received after March 31 will be at the regular price of $5,500.
For more information, contact Dr. Lynn Fondon at lfondon@brakkeconsulting.com or 972-243-4033.
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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
> KMG Chemicals Inc. announced the acquisition of the US-based animal insecticide business of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. The acquisition includes the leading brand of insecticidal ear tags for cattle in the US, as well as a product line consisting of several liquid and dust formulations of insecticides for cattle, swine, poultry and other animals, and applications for animal premises. It also includes an insecticidal ear tag that uses an innovative ingredient awaiting final approval from the EPA, which KMG expects to market in fiscal 2007. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. (Feedstuffs online)
> Intervet Inc. announced the addition of Continuum DAP-R to its Continuum line of vaccines. Continuum DAP-R is the first and only 3-year core vaccine that includes all four core antigens (distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus, and rabies virus). (company press release)
> Alpharma Inc. introduced PoultrySulfa (sulfonamide), the only triple-sulfa soluble powder combination approved by FDA for use in chickens and turkeys. The broad-spectrum, water-soluble product contains three forms of the powerful, field-proven antibiotic sulfa – sulfamethazine, sulfamerazine and sulfaquinoxaline – and may be used to aid control of coccidiosis and acute fowl cholera caused by pathogens susceptible to these antibiotics. (PoultrySite.com)
> Henry Schein Inc. reported that it has agreed to buy privately held veterinary distribution business NLS Animal Health. NLS Animal Health serves approximately 8,000 companion animal clinics in 26 states in the South-Central, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States, and had 2005 sales of about $110 million. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. (Business Wire)
> Swift and Co. announced an agreement with Microgy Inc. to construct a biogas production facility at Swift’s beef processing plant in Grand Island, Nebraska. The two companies are considering similar facilities at other Swift plants. Microgy uses anaerobic digestion technology to convert animal waste, processing waste and waste water into methane-rich biogas, which can in turn be used for such uses as home heating oil. According to Microgy, if all plants were included, the company could produce the equivalent of 25,000 barrels of heating oil per day. (Meating Place)
> Lucky Litter LLC announced the national debut of the ScoopFree automatic litter box that allows cat lovers to leave their kitty litter box alone for up to 30 days. ScoopFree is making its debut at PetSmart stores, PetSmart.com, Costco.com and other retailers nationwide. ScoopFree uses a disposable cat litter cartridge that comes with Fresh Step Crystals cat litter in an exclusive licensing arrangement with the Clorox Pet Products Co. (Business Wire)
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ORDER YOUR ANIMAL HEALTH DIRECTORY NOW
Each year, Brakke Consulting produces a directory of the leading animal health manufacturers, distributors and service providers in the US. The 2006 Directory will be shipping in early 2006. For pricing and to order the Directory, please email Jane Morgan at jmorgan@brakkeconsulting.com or call 972-243-4033.
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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS
> SWEDEN – BSE Tests sent to Great Britain confirm that a 12-year-old cow from a farm west of Stockholm was a victim of BSE. This is the first case to affect Sweden, the only European Union country that had escaped the disease. (Meating Place)
> GERMANY – AVIAN INFLUENZA IN A MARTEN A fourth H5N1 avian influenza infection has been confirmed in a second non-human mammalian species. The animal, a stone marten, was found alive March 2 on the Baltic island of Ruegen, but showed signs of serious illness. Tests confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus. Three cases have been confirmed in domestic cats on the island. Officials suspect the cats and the stone marten, which has predatory feeding patterns similar to that of cats, were infected with the virus after feeding on dead birds. (The Student Operated Press)
> POLAND – AVIAN INFLUENZA Poland detected its first case of avian influenza. Two swans found dead on the banks of the River Vistula in the northern city of Torun tested positive for H5 bird flu. Tests are being carried out at a British laboratory to determine if it was the H5N1 strain. (PoultrySite.com)
> AUSTRIA – AVIAN INFLUENZA IN CATS Three cats have tested positive for the H5N1 of avian influenza in Austria’s first reported case of the disease spreading to an animal other than a bird. The stories say that the sick cats were among 170 living at an animal shelter where the disease was detected in chickens last month. (AnimalNet – Agence France Presse)
> PAKISTAN – AVIAN INFLUENZA Pakistan culled as many as 25,000 chickens at two poultry farms in the North West Frontier Province, where low pathogenic avian influenza was detected. (PoultrySite.com)
> ALBANIA – AVIAN INFLUENZA A chicken found dead in southern Albania has been confirmed as that country’s first case of H5N1 avian influenza. The chicken was found in the village of Cuke, about 180 miles south of the capital, Tirana. (Meating Place)
> GERMANY – CLASSICAL SWINE FEVER Germany confirmed two outbreaks of classical swine fever in the North-Rhine Westphalia area. There were a total of 575 susceptible animals, 75 cases, 84 deaths and 491 animals destroyed on two farms. Germany has applied rigorous measures to control the disease, including culling all pigs in the two outbreaks and on all farms located within a 1 km radius of the affected farms. (Feedstuffs online)
> VENEZUELA – NEWCASTLE DISEASE Health authorities are investigating the deaths of dozens of chickens in Venezuela and suspect the cause to be Newcastle disease, which is common in the country. No indications of avian influenza have been detected in the country. (AnimalNet – CP Wire)
> UK – EU BEEF BAN LIFTED The European Union’s veterinary board voted unanimously to end the ban on exports of live cattle, beef and beef products from the United Kingdom. The European Commission is expected to formally lift the ban next month. (Meating Place)
> ARGENTINA – BEEF EXPORTS BANNED With domestic beef prices rising sharply, Argentina has banned all new exports of beef for 180 days to avoid inflationary pressures. The country will honor previous agreements, but that is a small part of Argentina’s $1.39 billion export sales. The Minister of the Economy said that 600,000 tons of beef scheduled for export will instead be distributed on the domestic market to meet demand and moderate prices. (Meating Place)
> US – PORK SLOGAN SOLD The National Pork Board will pay the National Pork Producers Council $3 million over 20 years for sole rights to the widely known trademark, “Pork. The Other White Meat.” The sale and use of Pork Checkoff funds to pay for the trademark have been approved by USDA, which oversees the Checkoff program. The Pork Board has been licensing the slogan prior to negotiating the sale. (Meating Place)
> CANADA – 1-06 BSE CASE SOURCE Canadian authorities believe the case of BSE discovered in January resulted from cross-contamination of feed. The investigation found two feed suppliers for the farm where the animal resided, and one makes both feed with and feed without bovine protein. CFIA said that equipment may not have been cleaned thoroughly during the switchover from feed containing cattle parts. (Meating Place)
> CANADA – BLOOD TEST FOR BSE A blood test developed to detect misfolded prions should be available in one to two years according to a Canadian scientist who developed the test. He is receiving funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research to commercialize the test. The test, which can detect BSE and its human form, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease as well as other diseases, can sort out minute amounts of misfolded prions in the blood stream. The test will have to produce accurate results in the 80 – 90% range before it will gain government approval. (Meating Place)
> US – ANIMAL DNA BANK Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine announced the opening of a DNA bank to better understand the genetic basis for diseases in many species. Clinicians at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals will now take blood samples (with owners’ written permission) from the thousands of animals they diagnose with known genetic diseases each year. A DNA bank technician will then isolate the DNA, catalog it and freeze it for storage for use by Cornell researchers. the DNA will be used for research purposes to further science and that the Cornell animal hospital is “not setting up a genetic testing service” yet. (AnimalNet)
> US – CONVERTING MANURE TO CRUDE OIL University of Illinois scientists have teamed with industry partners to design a pilot plant for a large commercial livestock farm that will convert swine manure to crude oil. The pilot plant is based on research led by an agricultural and biological engineer at the U of I, who developed a system using thermochemical conversion (TCC) to transform organic compounds (like swine manure) in a heated and pressurized enclosure to produce oil and gas. (ThePigSite.com)
> JAPAN – CONVERTING MANURE TO GASOLINE Scientists in Japan have extracted gasoline from cattle manure. Researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology developed the process, which yields 0.042 ounces of gasoline from 100 grams or 3.5 ounces of manure. The process uses high pressure, heat and chemical catalysts to extract the gasoline. The team hopes to develop the process for commercial use within five years. (Drovers Alert)
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WESTERN VETERINARY CONFERENCE
FEBRUARY 19 – 23, 2006
The Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas concluded two weeks ago. Total attendance was over 14,000, with 6,860 veterinarians and 2,700 exhibitors in attendance. 815 of the veterinarians were international attendees.
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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
I just returned from the AFIA Feed Ingredients Meeting, which had a record attendance of its membership. I was most impressed with the positive expectations for 2006 from those I was able to visit with during the meeting. It seems like every company serving the animal markets feels that 2006 will be an excellent year. I always begin to worry a bit when everyone is so positive. Hopefully, it’s just my conservative nature.
One thing I have noted is that there are excess inventories of beef in cold storage or in feedlots at the end of February. Also, the reduced consumption of poultry based on concerns over the avian flu will add to the inventories of animal protein in the system which could negatively impact livestock prices. Could livestock prices the last 3 quarters of the year be the dark cloud for 2006?
Have a great weekend!!
Ron Brakke
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