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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for November 20, 2009
Copyright © Brakke Consulting, Inc.
Editor: Lynn Fondon, DVM, MBA
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IN THE NEWS:
Brakke news
Animal Health Industry History Book
2009 US Flea Control and Heartworm Markets report
earnings news
JBS
Menu Foods
Pet DRx
PetSmart
Webster
other news
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica
ImmunoPhotonics
Imulan
IRIS Int’l
Neogen
Pet Porte
Pfizer
PositiveID
Putney
Radio Systems
Royer
Wedgewood Pharmacy
Wynnstay
Youngs Animal Feed
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LOOKING FOR HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS?
Copies of Brakke Consulting’s recently-published book chronicling the history of the US animal health industry are still available! Reasonably priced at $35 per copy, these gift-quality books make great holiday gifts for employees and clients.
For more information on The U.S. Animal Health Industry: Its pioneers and legacy of innovation, visit our website at www.BrakkeConsulting.com or contact Jane Morgan at jmorgan@brakkeconsulting.com.
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COMPANY EARNINGS RELEASES
> Patterson Companies reported results for its second fiscal quarter ended Oct. 24. Sales for the Webster Veterinary division grew 30% to $161 million in the most recent quarter, largely due to its acquisition of Columbus Serum in October 2008. (AP)
> Menu Foods Income Fund announced results for the third quarter that ended September 30. Sales for the quarter were CA$67 million (US$64 million), an increase of 8% over the third quarter of 2008. EBITDA was CA$7.4 million (US$7.1 million), a 93% increase over the same quarter last year. (company website)
> JBS S.A. reported that its net earnings for the third quarter ended September 30 dropped 78% to 152 million reais ($87.4 million) compared with the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 8% to 8.38 billion reais ($4.8 billion) compared with the third quarter in 2008, mostly due to the added sales from the acquisition of the beef unit of Smithfield Foods. (Meating Place)
> Pet DRx Corporation announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009. Revenues from continuing operations were $15.7 million compared to revenues of $17.3 million in the same time period one year ago. Pet DRx had an operating loss of $(398,000) compared to an operating loss in the third quarter of 2008 of $(2.7 million). (Globe Newswire)
> PetSmart, Inc. reported net income of $38.1 million for the third quarter of 2009. That compares with net income of $35.8 million for the third quarter of 2008. Net sales for the third quarter of 2009 increased 4% to $1.29 billion, compared to the third quarter of 2008. Comparable store sales grew 0.3% the third quarter. (company website)
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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
> Pfizer announced that the FDA has approved the EAZI-Breed CIDR Sheep Insert (progesterone solid matrix) for induction of estrus in ewes during seasonal anestrus. (CVM)
> Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica announced that ProZinc, an aqueous protamine zinc (PZI) suspension of recombinant human insulin, has been approved for veterinary use in cats by the FDA. ProZinc is the first FDA-approved recombinant human PZI insulin available for the management of feline diabetes mellitus. (company website)
> Neogen Corporation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a 3-for-2 stock split. With the split, shareholders of record on Nov. 30, 2009, will receive one additional share of stock for each two shares held. (company press release)
> Imulan BioTherapeutics announced it has extended the term of their exclusive license agreement with ImmunoPhotonics Inc. for the veterinary cancer laser system based on on-going clinical trials in dogs and cats. The new portable laser device, termed apSTAR (Autologous Patient Specific Tumor Antigen Response), uses a specific wavelength to activate an immune response against the tumor cells. (company press release)
> Putney, Inc., announced it has closed a $6.7 million Series B funding round. According to the company, the funding will enable Putney to double revenue, double the size its team, and double the number of deals and drugs in the pipeline in 2010. (company press release) top
> Wedgewood Pharmacy announced the signing of an exclusive license with Royer Animal Health to compound implantable cisplatin beads using Royer’s patented Matrix III drug-delivery technology, in response to individual veterinary prescriptions. The new technology will be used to treat skin tumors in horses. (Animal Pharm)
> IRIS International, Inc., announced that it has initiated shipments of its new StatSpin OvaTube System for use in veterinary hospitals, clinics and reference laboratories to process fecal samples for the detection of ova and parasites. The StatSpin OvaTube is a single use disposable device for centrifugal flotation of ova and parasites. (Money.CNN.com)
> PositiveID Corporation, formerly known as VeriChip Corporation, announced that it has formed a new animal health division, PositiveID Animal Health, to focus on diagnostic/clinical response and source food safety products and applications. The company plans to develop an in vivo glucose-sensing radio frequency microchip (and other sensor applications) for animals including, but not limited to, pets and livestock. (TradingMarkets.com)
> Radio Systems Corporation, home of the PetSafe brand, announced it has acquired the assets of UK-based Pet Porte Ltd., and the rights to manufacture and sell the company’s microchip cat door product line. The product works via the animal’s existing ID microchip, so no collar is required, and the doors can be programmed for individual animals. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Pets International)
> UK Wynnstay announced the acquisition of Youngs Animal Feeds. Youngs is a manufacturer of equine feed and pet products for the UK market. YAF, bought for GBP 750,000, had generated GBP 9.3 million in revenues last year. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Animal Pharm)
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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS
> US – EQUINE PIROPLASMOSIS Animal health authorities investigating an outbreak of equine piroplasmosis on a South Texas ranch have now located 317 positive horses. These horses include 288 on the index ranch, 7 on other premises in Texas, and 22 in nine other states. All known positive horses are under quarantine, and testing of all epidemiologically linked horses is ongoing. The disease was officially eradicated from the United States in 1988. (TheHorse.com)
> ASIA – H1N1 FLU Authorities in Hong Kong and Taiwan have confirmed their first cases of H1N1 influenza virus in swine. According to the Hong Kong Food and Health Bureau, the H1N1 virus was found in two pigs. In Taiwan, more than 100 pigs from a pig farm in Taidong County started showing H1N1 symptoms, following three confirmed cases of H1N1 there. (Pork Magazine enews)
> US – H1N1 FLU IN A CAT The Oregon state public health veterinarian reported that a pet cat has died from presumed 2009 H1N1 influenza virus infection. The cat became ill approximately one week after a child in the household had a flu-like illness. Additional samples were sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) for confirmation and are still pending. (AVMA Alert)
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COMING SOON
US FLEA CONTROL AND HEARTWORM MARKETS
2009 UPDATE
Brakke Consulting will soon be publishing our 2009 report on the US Flea Control and Heartworm Markets. The report includes valuable information on the US market for small animal parasiticides including:
– an overview of the veterinary and OTC flea control markets
– Product descriptions, prices, and sales for the leading veterinary flea and heartworm products
– Overview of advertising expenditures for veterinary flea and heartworm products
The report also includes a 2009 survey of over 200 veterinarians regarding topics such as product usage, brand switching, the effect of the economy on product sale; the impact of product sales outside the veterinary clinic channel; and developing resistance to new-generation products.
The report on the US Flea Control & Heartworm Markets will be available for a purchase price of $4,995 if ordered by FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, and $5,500 after that date.
Please contact Dr. Lynn Fondon at (972) 243-4033 or lfondon@brakkeconsulting.com to pre-order the report, or for more information visit our website at www.BrakkeConsulting.com
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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
This week’s news provides some interesting insights. Even the large international meat processing companies such as JBS are having problems in the animal protein market environment. Also, the largest pet retailer, PetSmart, had basically a flat third quarter in comparable store sales. We believe this reflects and confirms what we’ve been hearing from most of our clients the past few weeks. Sales volumes have declined in the third quarter.
In other news this week, I was struck by Greg Henderson’s editorial in the November issue of Dover’s. If you’ve not read it you need to!! It was a summary of a presentation made by Bill Gates last month to the World Food Prize Symposium. The take-home message from the symposium was that we must utilize modern agricultural technology to feed humanity, improve the environment and reduce the incidence of disease.
According to the editorial, Mr. Gates in this presentation may have just become modern agriculture’s greatest proponent. What better proponent could we have? It’s our opinion that the animal health industry needs to ride on the coattails of Mr. Gates and assist in communicating the value of modern animal health production. A copy of the editorial can be found on the Drover’s website at http://www.drovers.com/news_editorial.asp?pgID=678&ed_id=6471 and we encourage you to provide copies to your friends and relatives during Thanksgiving week.
Have a great weekend!!
Ron Brakke
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