Animal Health News & Notes for November 25, 2020

***********************************
Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for November 25, 2020
Copyright © Brakke Consulting
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
************************************

IN THE NEWS:

Earnings News
Central Garden & Pet
MWI Veterinary Supply
Zooplus

Other News
bCellera
Asteris
Boehringer Ingelheim
Covetrus
Curtiss Healthcare
Elanco
FirstVet
GeniusVets
Hippocampe Caen
Huvepharma
Invetx
Mubadala Capital
Newport Laboratories
Valsoft
The Veterinary Cooperative
WellVet

************************************
COMPANY EARNINGS RELEASES

• AmerisourceBergen reported results for its full fiscal year ended September 30, 2020. Revenues for MWI Veterinary Supply improved by 6% to $4.22 billion. (IHS Markit Connect)
• Central Garden & Pet Company announced operating results for its fiscal year 2020 ended September 26, 2020. Pet Segment net sales were $1,562 million, an increase of 13% over the prior year (+11% excluding the effect of acquisitions). Pet segment EBITDA was $189.4 million compared to $155.5 million in the prior fiscal year. (company press release)
• Zooplus reported results for the first nine months of 2020. Sales increased 18% to EUR 1.3 billion ($1.5 billion). (GlobalPets)

************************************
COMPANY NEWS RELEASES

• Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health and WellVet, a not-for-profit social enterprise to help improve the wellbeing of veterinary professionals and teams, are collaborating to host a free ‘Winter Wellbeing’ series of online events starting this week. The series will feature 30-minute presentations by leading wellbeing professionals. (Zenopa.com)
• Elanco Animal Health announced that Prevacent PRRS has been licensed for use in sows and gilts against the reproductive form of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), when vaccinated six weeks prior to breeding. Prevacent had previously been approved in the fall of 2018 for use in pigs two weeks of age and older against PRRS respiratory disease. (Feedstuffs)
• Huvepharma introduced Avert NE, an innovative new vaccine to help control necrotic enteritis (NE) due to Clostridium perfringens Type A. Avert NE utilizes proprietary and unique recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccine (RASV) technology from Curtiss Healthcare Inc. as the delivery platform to elicit an immune response to protect chickens from NE. (Feedstuffs)
• Newport Laboratories, Inc. announced it has re-launched HerdPoint in GVL, a custom-made vaccine management tool exclusively for Newport Laboratories customers. HerdPoint boasts improved veterinary software for custom-made vaccine management. (company press release)
• GeniusVets announced a strategic partnership with The Veterinary Cooperative, the nation’s largest veterinary group purchasing organization (GPO) with over 4,000 member practices, to offer GeniusVets’ platform that connects pet parents with quality veterinarians and proven pet care advice from DVMs. (PRweb.com)
• Valsoft Corporation  , a Canadian company specializing in the acquisition and development of vertical market software businesses. announced the acquisition of Asteris, provider of Keystone Software Suite, a leading diagnostic imaging and teleconsultation platforms for the veterinary vertical. Financial terms were not disclosed. (PRNewswire)
• FirstVet, a Swedish company that provides pet-owners with on-demand video consultations from local, qualified veterinarians, announced it has raised around EUR 29.5 million ($35 million) to support its launch in the US. The financing round was led by Mubadala Investment Company’s financial investment arm, Mubadala Capital, with participation from Cathay Innovation alongside existing backers, OMERS Ventures and Creandum. FirstVet is already firmly established within six key markets, including the Nordics, Germany, and the United Kingdom. (GlobalPets)
• Invetx and AbCellera announced the companies have expanded their agreement to generate therapeutic antibody candidates for serious and chronic conditions in animal health. Based on AbCellera’s successful delivery on multiple discovery campaigns under the original agreement, the scope of the collaboration has been expanded to include multiple new targets over several years. (Montrealgazette.com)
• FRANCE Covetrus announced it has exited its distribution operations in France (Hippocampe Caen), due to below-average gross margins in the country. The top-line impact of the exit is expected to be $55 million over the next fiscal year. While the Covetrus will maintain its technology footprint in France, the company will be prioritizing its efforts on other unnamed European markets where it has more momentum and an opportunity to grow its market share. (IHS Markit Connect)

***********************************
ANIMAL HEALTH STOCK PRICE TRACKER

***********************************
ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS

• EU – AVIAN INFLUENZA The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has stated highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is “spreading rapidly” across the European continent. The agency said the likelihood of transmission from wild birds to the poultry sector is high. Within the past month, there have been over 300 cases reported in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. The majority of these detections were in wild birds but EFSA said there was also a handful of outbreaks on poultry farms. (IHS Markit Connect)

************************************
BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT

This is a short work week for most of us and the beginning of the holiday season for all of us. We all have a lot to be thankful for, especially the people in our industry that provide for the health of our companion animals and feed our nation and the world.

We at Brakke Consulting wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all our clients and newsletter readers. 

 Bob Jones 
Ron Brakke 
Joel Adamson 
Paul Casady
Cary Christensen 
Lynn Fondon 
Randy Freides 
Jim Kroman
Jay Lockhart 
John Mannhaupt 
Amanda McDavid
Mike McGinley 
Jessica Montgomery
Kevin Scott 
Jishu Shi 
Yuki Ujimasa 
John Volk

************************************
YOUR VIEW
I would have lost the bet on last week’s question. I was sure that deep fried turkey would have been the most popular, but just over 20% said it was their favorite way to prepare turkey. Over 45% of respondents said that oven roasted was their favorite, while 15% said smoked and 17% preferred leftover turkey. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving dinner…and I’ll bet some of you will have a great leftover turkey sandwich.

Alright, I don’t like losing bets, even imaginary ones. Maybe the results came back the way they did because a few of you don’t yet have a fryer. Let’s see…

Do you own a turkey deep fryer?