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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for July 14, 2006
Copyright © Brakke Consulting, Inc.
Editor: Lynn Fondon, DVM, MBA
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IN THE NEWS:
earnings news
Peptech
TW Medical Veterinary Supply
other news
ConAgra
Cyntegra
Fort Dodge
IDEXX
Nutreco
Nutrikraft India
Ranbaxy
Vetnex
Virbac
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COMPANY EARNINGS RELEASES
> TW Medical Veterinary Supply reported net sales for the quarter ended June 30 of $ 5,023,000, an increase of 35% from the same quarter last year. Net sales increased 25% from the first quarter this year. (company press release)
> Peptech announced results for the first 6 months of 2006. Animal Health division sales were A$600,000 (US$446,000) for the six months, down from A$700,000 in the comparable period in 2005. The decline in sales was attributed to lower sales of Ovuplant in the UK following a fire at a sterilization plant. (Animal Pharm)
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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
> Researchers working in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Virginia Tech with funding support from Fort Dodge Animal Health Inc. have developed a vaccine to protect against Post-weaning Multi-systemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) in pigs. The vaccine has been patented by Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc. (VTIP) and is licensed and being marketed by Fort Dodge. (Newswise)
> Virbac Corp. announced that its majority shareholder, France-based Virbac SA, revised its proposal to purchase the remaining 39.9% of the company’s outstanding stock it doesn’t already hold. Virbac SA will pay $4.85 a share instead of $4.15 a share, for a total of $43.8 million. The unit will be wholly owned by Virbac SA’s subsidiary Interlab SAS. (AP)
> Cyntegra, Inc. filed a complaint in the Federal Court for the Central District of California, against IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. The complaint includes claims for antitrust violations, as well as claims for unfair competition and tortuous interference with business. Cyntegra sells diagnostic tests that use molecular methods to detect the presence or absence of animal disease markers in a biological sample from an animal. Cyntegra is the exclusive licensee of the diagnostic uses of the canine influenza A virus from the University of Florida. (company press release)
> ConAgra Foods Inc. sent a letter to its chicken suppliers advocating the use of controlled atmosphere killing, slaughter method considered more humane by PETA. A ConAgra spokesperson told the Associated Press that the company doesn’t plan to try to force its suppliers to adopt the method. (Meating Place)
> INDIA Nutreco Holding announced it has acquired a 51% share in the feed company Nutrikraft India Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in Bangalore, India. Nutreco has worked closely with Nutrikraft since 2004. Nutrikraft is a young and fast growing animal feed company with annual gross sales of EUR 19 million ($24 million) in complete feeds and protein concentrates. (Wattnet Meatnews)
> INDIA The ex-animal health division of Indian pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories has been relaunched as Vetnex. The animal health business formed part of Ranbaxy’s allied business, which was divested to ICICI Venture Funds in 2005. Last year, the animal health business reported sales of about Rs590 million ($13.1 million) and was ranked fourth in India. (Animal Pharm)
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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS
> SPAIN – AVIAN INFLUENZA Spanish officials reported that the H5N1 strain of avian influenza had been confirmed in a sample taken from a great crested grebe that was found dead Jun 30 in the Salburua wetlands in Alava province. The case is the first in Spain, making Spain the 14th EU member country to report the virus in birds. (CIDRAP)
> US – COMMISSION TO STUDY LARGE-SCALE FARMING The John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and funded by the PEW Charitable Trusts established a commission to conduct a fact-finding of today’s large-scale production practices. The National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production consists of 19 members from such fields as animal science and veterinary medicine to religion to animal and environmental activism. It plans to conduct a number of public hearings over the next two years and to issue interim reports on its thinking, as well as a final report, that will be made widely available, according to its web site, www.ncifap.org. (Feedstuffs.com)
> CANADA – BSE Canada confirmed its seventh case of BSE in an Alberta cow born after 1997, when the country imposed feed restrictions to curb the spread of the disease. The cow died on a farm and was singled out for testing as part of an ongoing surveillance program for BSE. No part of the 50-month-old dairy cow entered the human or animal food or feed chain. (Meating Place)
> AUSTRALIA – JOHNE’S DISEASE A beef herd in Western Australia has been struck by Johne’s disease, last seen in Australia 12 years ago. Western Australia will not automatically lose its BJD-free status, but health authorities plan to test at-risk herds and pastures, and will institute a surveillance program, but it is not known if eradication is either possible or cost-effective, and such a study will take months to complete. (Meating Place)
> US – ANIMAL ID The U.S. Animal Identification Organization (USAIO), the animal identification database established as a multi-species structure for producers to enroll their animals in the National Animal Identification System, has completed testing and is now ready to begin implementation. USAIO will initially enroll animals from 12 producers who will represent 1 million “movements,” or changes in premises, after which enrollment will be expanded to include a larger group representing 250,000 movements per month. The system will be available to all producers in the fourth quarter. (Feedstuffs online)
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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
It’s the dog days of summer here in Texas, and most everyone is hoping for rain soon or it’s going to be a very hot and dry summer. While Texas is not the center of the universe, many of us like to think it is, just to make us feel good. Nevertheless, Texas and the Southwest are an important factor in the animal health industry, and what happens here can impact the marketplace, particularly in the beef and dairy areas.
So, if you’re getting more rain than you can handle, please send some our way. We’d like the opportunity to cool off a bit.
Have a great weekend!
Ron Brakke
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