This Week in Animal Health: Chewy beats Q3 expectations

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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for
Copyright © Brakke Consulting
Editor: Christine Merle DVM, MBA, CVPM
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IN THE NEWS:

Brakke Consulting News
Brakke Consulting Industry Overview – Registration is Live!
Tails of Talent: Branding Lessons to Win the Talent Game

Earnings News
Chewy

Company News
Akston Biosciences
ALR Technologies (CA)
BASF
Biochem
CHC Healthcare Group (TW)
Chiratae Ventures (IN)
CurifyLabs
CVS (UK)
Dechra
Dial A Vet (AU)
Dr Paws (IN)
Elanco
Gerosynth Labs
Hill’s Pet Nutrition
Innovad Group
IK Partners
Jaguar Health
MI:RNA
PAI Partners
Pawssum(AU)
PawthosX
Ranchbot
ScribbleVet
SoluPet (TW)
Wynwood Dog Food
Zoetis (CA)
Zomedica

Animal Health News
European Union
Nigeria
Spain
United Arab Emirates
United States

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Brakke Consulting
2026 Industry Overview

 

Presented at VMX:
Monday, January 19th, 2-4 pm
Florida Ballroom B-C

Presented at WVC:
Monday, February 16th , 2-4 pm
Four Seasons Ballroom 4

How did the top animal health companies perform in 2025?  Did growth slow?  What innovation in animal health can we expect and how will the animal health industry bring innovation to market?  Answers to these questions and more will be covered at Brakke Consulting’s annual Industry Overview at the VMX and WVC conferences next year.

Key topics and presenters include:

• Industry and Top Global Company 2025 Performance, presented by Bob Jones
• Pet Care: Head Winds or Market Correction?, presented by John Volk
• Innovation in Animal Health: What in the world is it, presented by Chuck Johnson
• Where Innovation Meets Investment: What’s wrong and how to fix it, presented by Alexis Nahama
  

Also, again at both events, you’ll also hear directly from a panel of executive leaders in the animal health industry. Moderated by Paul Casady, this year’s VMX leadership panel features Jamie Brannan, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Zoetis. In his role, he is responsible for all Zoetis commercial operations across the globe. The discussion will be around Challenges and Opportunities in 2026 in animal health.

This information-packed 2-hour session will be especially valuable for executive leadership, sales and marketing, strategy, and finance managers and decision makers in the animal health industry.

Registration cost is $399 per person. Special group pricing for teams of five or more—pay for four participants, and the fifth is complimentary. To register a group of five or more, please email Amanda McDavid or call 336-396-3916 for assistance with registering.

Click here to register for VMX
Click here to register for WVC 

We look forward to seeing you there!

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Company Earnings News

• Chewy announced its third quarter 2025 financial results with year-to-date sales of $9.34 billion an 8.4% versus prior year.  Auto-ship customer sales account for 83% of net sales. (company press release)

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Company News Releases

• Elanco hosted its first Investor Day in 5 years, highlighting innovation products in development, an organizational restructure including closure of its German animal R& D facility and investment in US. (company press release)
• Dechra announced the FDA approval of Emeprev (maropitant citrate) Injectable solution. (company press release)
• Zomedica has expanded its TRUFORMA platform with the launch of its Equine progesterone assay.( com)
• FDA has approved the renewal of Jaguar Health’s Canalevia-CA1 for conditional approval for chemotherapy-induced diarrhea in dogs. (company press release)
• Akston Biosciences has filed paperwork to begin the initial public offering (IP0) process. (com)
• MI:RNA has concluded their second Venture Capital led financing raising $3.6 million. (scottish-enterprise-mediacentre.com)
• Hill’s Pet Nutrition announced that its Food, Shelter and Love program has supported 16 million adoptions in North America since 2002. (company press release)
• Ranchbot, a remote monitoring technology for water and infrastructure, and Texas A&M have signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a framework to promote and develop innovation in agricultural technology. (com)
• PAI Partners, a private equity firm, announced an agreement to acquire Innovad Group, supplier of animal health and nutrition solutions, from IK Partners, a European Private equity firm. (company press release)
• Biochem, an animal nutrition company, has entered into a binding agreement to acquire BASF’s global glycinate business. (com)
• Gerosyth Labs announced that the US FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine has accepted multiple Investigational New Animal Drug (INAD) files for the company’s lead oncology candidates across equine, feline and canine categories. Each file was granted a Minor Use and Minor Species (MUMS) Animal Health Act designation. (com)
• CurifyLabs, a developer of 3D printing technology for medical applications, launched Curablend Vet, an excipient system that enables personalized medicines for pets.  (com)
• UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine announced that it has adopted ScribbleVet for use across its veterinary clinical facilities. (com)
• PawthosX has provided open access to it‘s ClinicOS, an AI-Native PIMS, allowing practices to explore independently the full platform. (com)
• Wynwood Dog Food launched its Wynwood Wellness, its new veterinary program, that reimburses pet owners for annual preventative health care visits with their veterinarian. (net)
• AU- Dial A Vet and Pawssum Mobile Vets have formed a national partnership to launch a fully integrated online-to-in home veterinary care pathway for Australia. (com)
• CA-Zoetis received approval for Portela (relfovetmab injection) for Cats from Health Canada. (company press release)
• CA- ALR Technologies is set to launch GluCurve Pet CGM in the Canadian market in January 2026 with expansion following throughout the globe. (com)
• IN- Chiratae Ventures led the funding round of US$3.2 million for Dr Paws, an India based veterinary clinic chain. (indiatimes.com)
• TW- SoluPet has announced a strategic partnership with CHC Healthcare Group to bring its Neuronal Defense product into Taiwan through a direct-to-consumer pilot. (com)
• UK- CVS, a major veterinary group, has launched dual branding for its network of hospitals, clearly identifying them as CVS Vets along with the clinic name. ( com)

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Tails of Talent: Branding Lessons to Win the Talent Game
Why brand reputation, not just recruiting tactics — determines who you can hire
Join us Live at VMX or WVC!

Presented at:
VMX – Monday, January 19 | 10:00 – 11:00 am | Florida Ballroom B-C
WVC – Monday, February 16 | 10:00 – 11:00 am | Four Seasons Ballroom 4

In animal health, the war for talent isn’t won with job postings; it’s won with perception. It starts with how the market sees you. Join us for an insight-rich session that shows why companies with strong, trusted brands consistently attract better candidates, shorten time-to-hire, and boost long-term retention. Using fresh data and real examples from across the industry, our seasoned experts will walk you through how to evaluate your organization’s brand reputation and elevate it to the level top talent seeks out. Instead of chasing candidates, learn how to position your company as the place they want to be.

Presented by: 
    Jeff Santosuosso – Executive Recruiter – Brakke Consulting
       Jake Yarbrough – Group Director – Schaefer Advertising

Click here to register. At only $49, this session is a high-value investment in the future of your recruitment strategy.

Please email Amanda McDavid or call 336-396-3916 for assistance with registering.

We look forward to helping you win the talent game.

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Animal Health Stock Price Tracker

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Animal Health News

• US- BIRD FLU VACCINE- US senators are pushing the USDA for urgent action to finalize a science-based plan to develop a bird flu vaccine for livestock. (com)
• US- SYSTEMIC ABUSE- U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver from Missouri has raised concerns about allegations of systemic abuse at veterinary schools across the country. He has sent letters to 36 veterinary schools asking for information on their policies and procedures. (house.gov)
• EU-FOOD SECURITY- The existing Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in EU is set to expire in 2027. Cuts proposed in 2024 are being protested especially since animal diseases already account for nearly 20% of global livestock production losses every year. (org)
• NG- TELEHEALTH- The Lagos State Government launched TELE-VET, a Tele-Veterinary Call Centre, providing a variety of services to active subscribers on both livestock and pet care. (ng)
• SP- SWINE FEVER- The most recent outbreak of swine fever appears to be contained but probes as to the source including a lab leak have not been determined. (com and ukragroconsult.com)
• UAE-NEW VETERINARY LAW-  A new veterinary law regulating veterinary products and veterinary pharmaceutical establishments has been introduced. (com)

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Brakke Consulting Viewpoint

At next year’s Industry Overviews at VMX and WVC, we will focus on innovation in animal health. Recent developments in human health highlight efforts to accelerate innovation by streamlining regulatory processes rather than relying solely on company-driven advances.

Two notable proposals have emerged: approving human products based on a single well-designed trial instead of two and reducing user fees for early-stage companies conducting U.S. clinical trials. While the first proposal has raised concerns, many believe it could foster innovation by making approvals faster and less costly. The second proposal relates to ongoing PDUFA negotiations, with operational details still under discussion.

Encouragingly, these initiatives originate within the FDA. Human health industry groups are also contributing ideas, and our own animal health association (AHI) recently recommended regulatory reforms and process efficiencies for CVM. With ADUFA negotiations beginning next year, regulatory innovation in animal health may not be far behind

Robert Jones

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Your View 

Last week, we asked you about your thoughts on the biggest challenge to using AI for drug development.  Almost 37% of the respondents said it was data quality and availability, about 27% said it was regulatory acceptance and 24% said it was ethics, while only a few said it was cost or something else.   If you would like to learn what human pharma leaders are saying about AI in R&D, you might find this McKinsey article useful.

Now for this week… as the year ends, we invite you to share your sentiments on this year and the next. Brakke Consulting will release a white paper next month featuring results from this survey, our Inaugural Animal Health Industry Sentiment Index. The survey takes just two minutes to complete, and responses are anonymous. Your input is greatly appreciated.

To complete the survey, click here and thanks in advance for your help.