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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for December 16, 2022
Copyright © Brakke Consulting
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
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IN THE NEWS:
Brakke Consulting News
Recruiting
2023 Industry Overview – register now
Other News
Adisseo
Chr. Hansen
Elvetis
Lintbells
MesaGreen Pharmaceutical
Neftys Pharma
Novozymes
Pets Choice Limited
PetSmart
Shipt
Small Door Veterinary
TheraVet
Walkin’ Pets
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BRAKKE CONSULTING
Recruiting Services
Hiring time? We can help!
As you look forward to starting 2023 at full speed, talent becomes more important than ever. Brakke Consulting, exclusively dedicated to animal health and nutrition since 1986, offers full-service executive recruiting, partnering with you based on your specific needs.
Along with our team of over a dozen consultants, Jeff Santosuosso applies his decades of experience and wide network to identify the best candidates for a variety of roles. We even conduct a free qualitative candidate fit assessment to help guide you in final interviews! Find out more at our website or by contacting Jeff jeff@brakkeconsulting.com.
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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
- Lintbells, the maker of YuMOVE veterinary joint supplements, acquired Walkin’ Pets, a manufacturer of pet mobility aids such as wheelchairs and support harnesses. Terms were not disclosed. (Todays Veterinary Business)
- Novozymes and Hansen have entered into an agreement to create a leading global biosolutions partner through a statutory merger of the two companies. The combined group would have annual revenue of approximately EUR 3.5 billion. Novozymes will be the continuing company and Chr. Hansen will be the dissolving company. At completion of the merger, the combined company will initially operate under the name Novozymes A/S with Chr. Hansen registered as a secondary name; the new name and brand of the combined company will be developed jointly. (Feedstuffs – subscription)
- The Adisseo group announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Nor-Feed and its subsidiaries, a French group that designs, manufactures and markets plant-based specialty ingredients and plant extracts for animal nutrition. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Feedstuffs – subscription)
- PetSmart announced a new delivery partnership with Shipt – a wholly owned subsidiary of Target – that will offer same-day delivery of PetSmart pet food and supplies and expand upon PetSmart’s omnichannel strategy. (Petfood Processing – subscription)
- MesaGreen Pharmaceutical Company announced that the company has filed an Investigational New Animal Drug (INAD) application with the FDA. The INAD covers the development of the company’s K9MGP product which, when approved, will effectively control an active seizure in dogs that can be used by pet owners at home. (KC Connector)
- Small Door Inc., operating under the brand Small Door Veterinary, announced $40 million in Series B funding and plans to expand beyond their New York home base to five new locations in Boston and Washington, D.C. This funding came from a consortium of investors led by the Chief Investment Officer of a leading private equity firm, with participation by C&S Family Capital and FS Investors as well as existing investors. (Businesswire)
- FRANCE TheraVet announced the signing of a new exclusive distribution agreement for its line of bone substitutes BIOCERA-VET with Elvetis, one of the French subsidiaries of the Neftys Pharma (company press release)
- UK Pets Choice Limited has established a veterinary division to develop a range of cannabidiol (CBD) oral dosage formats. The new division has been granted a ManSA license by the UK’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). (org)
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ANIMAL HEALTH STOCK PRICE TRACKER
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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS
- US – ANTIMICROBIAL USE The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine published the 2021 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals. This year’s report shows that domestic sales and distribution of medically important antimicrobial drugs approved for use in food-producing animals decreased by less than 1% between 2020 and 2021. (Feedstuffs – subscription)
- US – ANTIBIOTIC USE Updated research, supported by the FDA and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, was released quantifying the U.S. poultry industry’s on-farm antibiotic use, including a new section on layer production. Broiler chickens receiving antibiotics in the hatchery decreased from 90% (2013) to 0% (2021); Turkeys receiving antibiotics in the hatchery decreased from 97% (2013) to 40% (2021). Little antibiotic is used in table egg production in the U.S. The only medically important antibiotic used in layer hens for treatment and control of disease in this dataset was chlortetracycline (CTC), used in part because it has a zero-day withdrawal; less than 0.2% of total hen-days were exposed to CTC. (Feedstuffs – subscription)
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BRAKKE CONSULTING
Announcing the 2023 Brakke Industry Overview
Presented at VMX: Monday, January 16th, 2-4 pm, Hyatt Regency, Orlando N
Presented at WVC: Monday, February 20th, 2-4 pm, Four Seasons Hotel, Acacia 1
Come join us at Brakke Consulting’s annual Industry Overview presented at VMX and WVC next year. Key topics and presenters include:
- Industry and top global company performance, presented by Bob Jones
- Continuing consolidation of and labor shortages in vet practices, including their response to inflation, presented by John Volk
- A closer look at pet pharmacy consumerization and how we can all thrive in this new era, presented by Candise Goodwin
- Trends, challenges, and opportunities facing animal health companies in finding talent in today’s business environment, presented by Jeff Santosuosso
Also, moderated by Paul Casady, a panel of industry leaders will discuss their views on the subject of “Managing Animal Health Companies in Times of Uncertainty”. Confirmed speakers are VMX are:
- Kurt Green, President and CEO, Vetsource
- Kevin Pohlman, COO (formerly President of Animal Health), Patterson Companies
To learn more about and sign up for the Industry Overview, click here. You can also email Amanda McDavid or call us at 336-396-3916
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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
One of the topics that we will cover at our annual Industry Overview presentations at VMX and WVC concerns the consumerization of the veterinary pharmacy. If done right, consumerization can be a win-win for those involved in getting prescription and non-prescription pet medications to pet owners. But an emerging technology may make this experience even more complicated.
The technology model is called ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence tool from a company called OpenAI. ChatGPT interacts with the user in a conversational way. It can answer questions, follow up questions and challenge premises; however, it is still in a testing phase and is trained on a limited dataset. I signed up as a tester and asked it a few animal drug and veterinary questions I was blown away how much better ChatGPT is than a search engine.
I asked Chat GPT about pet owner reviews of a few medications, which are important for online purchases, but it is not trained on that data yet. How will it eventually manage negative reviews? It wouldn’t make drug recommendations (yet) when asked. If you are a company that uses a website to support your business, pay attention to ChatGPT. It will make the experience better – and more complicated.
Bob Jones
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YOUR VIEW
Last week, we asked about your expectations for the animal health industry in 2023. Just over 50% of the respondents thought that the industry would perform about the same, and about 40% said better than in 2022. We will present our estimate of growth in 2022 at VMX and WVC early next year.
This week
This week, let focus on technology in our animal health industry – it is not always easy or easy to adopt, but generally technology is an advancement and good for the industry. It might take you a moment to think of the answer, but we would really like to hear from you on this question.
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