Animal Health News & Notes for July 24, 2020

***********************************
Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for July 24, 2020
Copyright © Brakke Consulting
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
************************************

IN THE NEWS:

Earnings News
Cal-Maine Foods
Neogen Corporation
Orion Animal Health
PetMed Express
Virbac

Other News
Aviagen
BASF Venture Capital
Ceva Santé Animale
Elanco (Capstar)
Elanco (tulathromycin)
Evonik
Independent Vets
IndeVets
Laboratorios Hipra
MBF Therapeutics
PetIQ
Shenzhen Sinoagri E-Commerce
SmartAHC
Virbac
Virtual Recall
VMD
Zoetis

************************************
2020 DIGITAL ANIMAL HEALTH SUMMIT
AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2020
Location: Online

The Corridor’s August event goes on(line)! Registration is now open.

Register today! The digital Animal Health Summit features 36 hours of 1:1 business partnering, keynote speaker David Hughes, 7+ on demand webinars, emerging company presentations, LIVE stream programming with industry leaders, LIVE networking and additional programming that supports the Spirit of Service – programming with impact. Learn more

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

• Virbac reported results for the second quarter of 2020. Revenue was EUR 231 million ($259 million), down 6% compared to the same period in 2019 (-3% at constant exchange rates). The disposal of the Sentinel brands at the beginning of July, for which Virbac will continue to manufacture the Sentinel Spectrum formulation at a US site, is expected to result in a decrease in revenue of approximately $55 million on a pro forma full-year basis. (company website)
• Neogen Corporation reported revenues for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020. Revenues for the full fiscal year were $418 million, an increase of 1% compared to the prior year. Net income for the full 2020 fiscal year was $59.5 million, compared to the prior year’s $60.2 million. Neogen’s Animal Safety revenues were $205 million, an increase of 2%. Animal Safety segment revenues in the fourth quarter increased 3% due to strong sales of cleaners, disinfectants and sanitizers used in the fight against COVID-19. (company press release)
• Orion Animal Health reported results for the second quarter of 2020. Revenues were EUR 19.5 million ($22.2 million), a 22% decline year-on-year. The firm’s animal sedative range posted a 41% decline in sales to EUR 6.8 million ($7.7 million). (IHS Markit Connect)
• PetMed Express, Inc. announced its financial results for its first quarter ended June 30, 2020. Net sales were $96 million, an increase of 20% compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2019. The Company acquired approximately 186,000 new customers in the quarter ended June 30, 2020, compared to 140,000 new customers in the same period the prior year. Net income was $7.8 million compared to net income of $5.3 million in the prior-year quarter. (Globe Newswire)
• Cal-Maine Foods reported results for its 2020 fiscal year ended May 30, 2020. For fiscal 2020, net sales were $1.35 billion versus $1.36 billion for the prior year. Net income for 2020 was $18.4 million, compared to net income of $54.2 million for the prior year. After three fiscal quarters characterized by an oversupply of eggs and depressed market prices, demand for eggs increased and market prices rose 62% during the fourth fiscal quarter over the average price for the first three quarters as consumers purchased more eggs for preparing meals at home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Feedstuffs)

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

• PetIQ announced its acquisition of Capstar, an oral tablet that kills fleas in dogs and cats, from Elanco Animal Health Incorporated in an all-cash $95 million deal following US Federal Trade Commission approval of Elanco’s global acquisition of Bayer Animal Health. (Global Legal Chronicle)
• Aviagen, a global poultry genetics company, announced it will invest $35.3 million to expand in Pikeville, Tennessee, with a new state-of-the-art feed mill. (Feedstuffs)
• MBF Therapeutics (MBFT) announced it has expanded its pipeline to work on an immunotherapeutic vaccine for SARS CoV-2. Working with a network of partners in the life sciences industry, MBFT has already started on the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and intends to secure in vitro data next month and initial in vivo data shortly thereafter. (IHS Markit Connect)
• Independent Vets, an industry leader in flexible veterinary staffing, announced it is changing its name to IndeVets and expanding operations to Florida and Georgia. The company now operates in nine states and the District of Columbia with more than 500 hospital client partners and 75 employed veterinarians. (company press release)
• UK Zoetis announced it has acquired UK-based Virtual Recall, a software business that helps veterinary practices improve their service offering and communication with pet owners. Virtual Recall’s products include vaccination, neutering, appointment and healthcheck reminders, customer feedback, telemedicine and post operation surveys, and healthcare advice communications. Financial terms were not disclosed. (VetSurgeon.org)
• EU The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) has adopted positive opinions for Increxxa from Elanco and Tulinovet from Belgian company VMD, both of which are generic tulathromycin. Ceva Santé Animale and Virbac have also both received CVMP positive opinions for generic tulathromycin products in 2020. (IHS Markit Connect)
• EU The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) has recommended approval for Laboratorios Hipra’s Mhyosphere PCV ID, a vaccine which provides active immunization of pigs against porcine enzootic pneumonia and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2)-related disease. (IHS Markit Connect)
• CHINA BASF Venture Capital announced that it is investing in SmartAHC, a supplier of digitalization solutions for pig farming in China that provides customized digital solutions to increase efficiency throughout the pork value chain. SmartAHC has developed monitoring devices and software that uses artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to improve farm efficiency and animal welfare. Other investors include specialty chemicals producer Evonik and China’s Shenzhen Sinoagri E-Commerce. (Feedstuffs)

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

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

WORLD – ASF OIE and FAO call on countries and partners to join forces against African Swine Fever by adopting the new Initiative for the Global Control of ASF. Building upon the experience of the long-standing collaboration between OIE and FAO for the management of animal health related risks, the joint Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases developed the Global Initiative with the aim of fostering national, regional and global partnerships, to strengthen control measures and to minimize the impact of this complex and challenging disease. (National Hog Farmer)

• US – MEAT PACKAGING In response to a petition filed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the USDA’s Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) states that it does not have the authority to require facilities to report on the health information of their workers. The petition urged the agency to require meat and poultry processing plants to publish information about COVID-19 testing and infection rates at their facilities and to include a warning on their product labels that workers in the processing facilities “have been sickened or killed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and this product has not been certified virus-free.” The agency’s response notes that the proposed warning statement “is misleading because it inaccurately implies that meat and poultry products that have not been ‘certified as virus-free’ may transmit COVID-19 or are somehow unsafe.” (Feedstuffs)
• US – NAHMS STUDY POSTPONED After consulting with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Agricultural Statistics Service and other industry stakeholders about market disruptions in the beef industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) announced that it will postpone the 2020 US feedlot study until 2021. USDA said the study’s success this year was hindered by the inability to conduct face-to-face interviews in order to protect the health and safety of producers, data providers and data collectors. (Feedstuffs)
• US – CWD Researchers at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) have confirmed that certain aspects of the white-tailed deer’s response to chronic wasting disease (CWD) are moderately to highly heritable — or passed from parent to offspring — and can be predicted using a custom genomic tool designed at the university. This custom tool, a novel array, can be used to predict a white-tailed deer’s responses to CWD exposure with high accuracy and specificity, meaning that the array could be used in a genetic evaluation program aimed at reducing the prevalence of CWD. CWD is currently present in at least 26 US states, multiple Canadian provinces and several areas in Eurasia. (Feedstuffs)

************************************
BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
Next week we will see many of the major companies announce earnings.  The results are likely to be as mixed as the five announcements included in this letter.  Many have speculated the second quarter would be the most difficult this year.  There seems to be good news coming from veterinary clinics about client traffic.  Let’s hope in the third quarter all results are positive!

Cary Christensen

***********************************

YOUR VIEW
Last week we asked: “If you normally go to conferences in person, are you likely to attend those same conferences virtually this year?”  Thirty-five percent of you said you are attending virtually, but sixty-five percent are saying “no” when it comes to a virtual conference.  There must be one or several features of conferences not well-bridged by virtual attendance.

We also asked, “If your company typically exhibits at veterinary conferences, will you exhibit at the online versions this year or sit this one out?

Results:

Will Exhibit:                  23%

Will Not Exhibit:             53%

Have not Decided:        24%

With exhibitor fees being a major revenue source for conference sponsors, lean times could lie ahead.

This week’s question:

What has been the effect of the last six months of the COVID-19 situation on animal health innovation and product development?

**********************************