Animal Health News & Notes for December 19, 2003

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 Brakke Consulting’s
 Animal Health News & Notes for December 19, 2003
 Copyright © Brakke Consulting, Inc.
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You can now use this section to jump directly to a news item about a particular company.  Simply click on the company name.
 
JUMP TO:
 
earnings:
Virbac Corp.
 
other news:
Alpharma
Bon Appetit
Breuil
Ceva
CSL Animal Health
Embrex
Intervet
New Tech Solutions
Novartis
Pfizer
Pyxis Genomics
VIN
 
 
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COMPANY EARNINGS RELEASES
 
>  Virbac Corporation released preliminary estimates of its third quarter 2003. (The Company previously reported that it would delay the filing of its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2003 pending the completion of an inquiry being conducted by the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors.)  The Company estimates that it will report net revenues of approximately $17.2 million and net loss of $1.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2003. These estimated results were affected by an allowance for excess inventory recorded in the third quarter. (Business Wire)   top
 
 
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THE 2003 FLEA & HEARTWORM STUDY IS HERE!
 
Brakke Consulting’s 2003
US Flea Control and Heartworm Markets
 
LAST DAY TO PLACE AN ORDER AT THE EARLY-ORDER PRICE
 
This year’s report includes an all-new veterinarian survey, exploring such topics as K9 Advantix, ProHeart 6, the use of prescription fulfillment services, and the impact of internet and pet store sales of the products traditionally sold through veterinarians.  Other features include:
  – Discussion of pet owner compliance, the latest hot-button topic in small animal veterinary practice. 
  – Discussion of the impact of retail sales of veterinary flea products
  – Up-to-date product sales and trends for the veterinary products
  – An overview of the trends in OTC sales
 
The report will be available until December 19, 2003 at an early-order price of $4,000.  Studies ordered after the Christmas holiday will be priced at $4,500.
 
For more information, call 972-243-4033 or email Dr. Lynn Fondon at lfondon@brakkeconsulting.com.
 
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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
 
>  Pfizer Animal Health has agreed to acquire CSL Animal Health, a division of CSL Limited (Melbourne, Australia), for US$126.2 million in cash. The acquisition will enhance Pfizer Animal Health’s presence in the Australian marketplace with CSL’s line of livestock and companion animal vaccines, its highly professional sales force, and its advanced manufacturing facilities in Australia and New Zealand. According to Pfizer, CSL’s research capabilities and its promising R&D pipeline were key drivers of the acquisition. In addition, CSL Animal Health’s US division, Biocor, gives Pfizer a manufacturing facility that meets global GMP standards and enables Pfizer seamlessly to consolidate its existing alliance to market CSL’s Spirovac.  In 2002, CSL Animal Health sales were $46 million. (PRNewswire) top
 
>  Akzo Nobel announced the official opening of its new biotech vaccine facility in Boxmeer, Netherlands.  The Nobilon facility will produce vaccines for Intervet, as well as functioning as a platform for exploring opportunities in the human vaccine field. (Feedstuffs) top
 
>  Ceva Sante Animale announced the inauguration of two new veterinary pharmaceutical production plants in Morocco and Algeria.  (company press release) 
 
>  Alpharma Inc. and a number of poultry producers were named defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington County, Arkansas, on behalf of residents of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. The residents have all lost children or suffered serious health problems, including cancers and blood disorders, allegedly because of high concentrations of arsenic ingested as a result of chicken litter used as fertilizer around their town.  Alpharma manufacturers a product called 3-Nitro (roxarsone) that is mixed with chicken feed by poultry growers to prevent disease, and is excreted as inorganic arsenic.  The families represented in the lawsuits have asked the court to enjoin the poultry producers from using the roxarsone as a poultry feed supplement and from spreading the manure in Washington County. (Wattnet Meatnews)  top
 
>  Embrex, Inc. announced it has filed suit in US District Court against Breuil S.A. of France and New Tech Solutions, Inc. of Gainesville, GA, claiming that an in ovo injection device designed by these companies to compete with Embrex’s patented in ovo injection system violates US Patent Nos. 5,745,228 (’228) and 5,900,929 (’929). In the suit, Embrex seeks injunctive relief and monetary damages for the alleged infringements and is demanding a jury trial. (company website)  top
 
> Veterinary Information Network (VIN) announced the launch of eVetsite Systems, a website solutions company available to all animal health care professionals.  eVetsite fives veterinarians and their staff the ability to create and maintain a customized website for their veterinary hospital.  Existing websites can be transferred to the eVetsite system.  eVetsite also offers client education articles from VIN’s client education library. (company press release) top
 
>  Pyxis Genomics and Helix BioMedix, a peptide biotechnology company, announced that the companies have signed a collaborative research agreement for the assessment of non-antibiotic peptides.  Under the agreement, Pyxis will screen and identify bioactive peptides from Helix’s peptide library using Pyxis proprietary microarray technology.  Pyxis plans to license selected peptides from the Helix library and develop animal health therapeutics, including non-antibiotic feed supplements for livestock and nutraceuticals for pets.  These peptides would have the advantage of being an antibiotic alternative with the additional benefit of stimulating innate immunity.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  (company press release)  top 
 
> Bon Appetit Management Co., which provides catering and other food services to nearly 150 universities, corporations and entertainment venues in 21 states, announced plans to begin buying only antibiotic-free chickens starting next year and said it would begin working with ranchers to reduce the amount of drugs given cows and pigs.  The company added that the change reflects customer demand. (AP)   top
 
>  CANADA   Novartis Animal Health Canada announced the launch of Megamectin (ivermectin) Pour-On for cattle, available exclusively through veterinarians.  Megamectin is available in three sizes, and comes with a 100% lice control guarantee.    (AnimalNet – company press release)  top
 
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Brakke Consulting’s
2004 Animal Health and Nutrition Overview
“Your Customers, Now and in the Future”
 
The 2004 Animal Health and Nutrition Overview will focus on the following areas:

 -How the customer has changed, and how that is likely to impact your business in the future
 -Insights from our Practice Management Group on the changing small and large animal veterinary markets
 -Analysis and projections for the OTC markets
 -Analysis and review of the consolidation in food animals
 -How company product mixes have changed and will change in the future
 -How personnel management has changed, and will need to change to successfully meet future challenges
 -How companies will need to change in their recruitment and training programs to keep pace with the needs of a changing marketplace
 -Brakke Consulting’s views on successes and challenges for the leading companies
 -Brakke Consulting’s industry projections for 2004        
 
Your first opportunity to attend the 2004 Industry Overview is in New York City on January 12, 2004.  The Overview will also be presented at the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando and at the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas. 
 
For more details or to reserve your seat, please call Jane Morgan at 972-243-4033 or email jmorgan@brakkeconsulting.com, or register online at www.brakkeconsulting.com.
 
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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS
 
>  SOUTH KOREA  South Korea’s agriculture ministry  confirmed that an outbreak of avian influenza has killed thousands of chickens at a farm less than 80 miles from Seoul. South Korea’s National Veterinary and Quarantine Service said the recent deaths of chickens at the farm were caused by a variant of the same H5N1 bird flu virus that killed six people in Hong Kong in 1997. Quarantine authorities have slaughtered all the remaining chickens at sealed off all 76 poultry farms within a 6.2-mile radius. South Korea’s National Institute of Health said it had yet to confirm that the newly found virus could infect humans. (Meating Place)
 
>  ITALY   Italy’s Health Ministry reported that a cow from a breeding farm in central Italy has tested positive for BSE, bringing the nation’s total to 115 cases.  (AnimalNet – AP)
 
>  THAILAND   Thailand’s Livestock Development Department has clarified that a disease outbreak that killed a number of chickens in two provinces was not avian influenza, but rather Pasteurella multocida Type A, a bacterial disease.  The Department’s director-general issued the clarification after Japan, Poland, and Malaysia expressed concern about the safety of Thai chicken shipments. As part of its control measures, the department ordered the slaughter of 108,000 birds  and banned the movement of dead chickens out of affected farming areas in a radius of 60 kilometers.  (AnimalNet – Knight Ridder Tribune)  
 
>  US   Representatives from the feed industry, government and producer organizations took part in the charter meeting of the American Feed Industry Association’s Food Safety Task Force on Dec. 4.    The task force is charged with “establishing and promoting generally accepted food safety guidelines designed to ensure continuous improvement in the delivery of a safe and wholesome feed supply for the health and well-being of animals.”  The Task Force expects to redefine the Association and feed industry’s food safety roles and obligations.  (association press release)
 
>  US   The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) announced the establishment of a new Animal Health and Food Security Committee to consider science-based approaches to these and emerging related issues facing the US pork industry.  The committee is comprised of 17 members with expertise in a variety of swine health, welfare and food security issues. (AnimalNet – association press release)   
 
>  US   Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced the launch of the $53 million Bovine Genome Sequencing Project during a ceremony at the USDA. This joint sequencing effort is a collaboration among the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); USDA; the state of Texas; Genome Canada; The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of Australia; and Agritech Investments Ltd (a subsidiary of Meat New Zealand), Dairy Insight Inc. and AgResearch Ltd, all of New Zealand. (PRNewswire)
 
>  US   The USDA’s National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa has developed an experimental vaccine that should be very effective in cattle against shipping fever. The experimental vaccine was created by deleting a large piece of a specific gene from bacteria that cause shipping fever. When this gene segment is removed, the bacterium no longer causes pneumonia in cattle, but does elicit immunity. The Biotechnology Research and Development Consortium of Peoria, IL, funded part of the research and has applied for several patents on the vaccine. A major drug firm (not named) has licensed the technology and hopes to market a multivalent injectable vaccine using the genetically-modified strains of Mannheimia (formerly Pasteurella) haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida. The vaccine has not yet been approved by the USDA. (Healthy Animals Newsletter)
 
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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
 
We wish all of our newsletter readers an enjoyable and safe holiday season!

 
Ron Brakke
John Mannhaupt
Lynn Fondon
Roger Cummings
Karen Felsted
Jane Morgan
John Volk
John Short
Jay Lockhart
Ken Berkholtz
Kevin Scott
Dick Miles
Atsuo Hata

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