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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for June 22, 2018
Copyright © Brakke Consulting, Inc.
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
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IN THE NEWS:
Brakke Consulting news
2018 Sales Force Effectiveness Study – LAST WEEK TO PRE-ORDER
AnimalHealthJobs.com
earnings news
Benchmark Holdings
Patterson
other news
Agrovet Market Animal Health
Alivira Animal Health
Alltech Coppens
BioZyme
Cargill Animal Nutrition
Cogent Solutions Group
Coppens International
Heska
Hi Nutrients
Kindred Biosciences
Mars Petcare
Merck – Vinovo
Merck – Cargill
Neovia
Pathway Vet Alliance
Pestell Group
Pharmadix Laboratories
Scratchpay
Sharp
Vinovo B.V.
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CORRECTION:
Last week’s newsletter included an item announcing Antelliq’s new digital monitoring solution for beef cattle. The brand should have been listed as Allflex Livestock Intelligence rather than Alltech Livestock Intelligence.
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BRAKKE CONSULTING, INC.
2018 SALES FORCE EFFECTIVENESS STUDY
COMING IN DECEMBER
LAST WEEK FOR EARLY-ORDER DISCOUNT
The 2018 Sales Force Effectiveness Study will analyze data from over 1,000 companion animal veterinarians, at the national level as well as regional and practice size. The report will also analyze the differences between corporately-owned and independently-owned practices.
The report will include data on veterinarian purchasing habits; ratings on manufacturer attributes, field sales representative attributes, and inside sales representative attributes; and identification of the attributes that drive purchases and overall performance ratings. Companies benchmarked in the report include:
• Abaxis
• Antech Diagnostics
• Aratana Therapeutics
• Bayer
• Blue Buffalo
• Boehringer Ingelheim
• Ceva
• Dechra
• Elanco
• Heska
• Hill’s
• IDEXX
• Merck
• Nationwide/VPI
• Nestlé Purina PetCare
• Royal Canin
• Trupanion
• Vetoquinol
• Virbac
• Zoetis
The 2018 Sales Force Effectiveness Study will be published in December 2018. The cost of the study is $41,800; discounts are available for subscribers who place an order by June 30. For a detailed prospectus or other information, contact Bob Jones at bob@rwjcllc.com or Lynn Fondon at Lfondon@brakkeconsulting.com or 972-243-4033.
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COMPANY EARNINGS RELEASES
• Patterson Companies, Inc. reported results for the fiscal year ended April 28, 2018. Animal Health revenues were $3.16 billion, an increase of 3% compared to the prior fiscal year. (company press release)
• Benchmark Holdings reported results for the six months ended March 31, 2018. Revenues grew 9% year-on-year, to GBP 75.5 million ($106 million). Earnings before interest, tax, dedications and amortization grew 21% to GBP 6.3 million ($8.8 million). (Undercurrentnews.com)
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2018 KC Animal Health Corridor Events
August 20-21, 2018
Kansas City, MO
Market Insight Seminar
August 20, 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Join fellow animal health leaders in Kansas City this August for the 3rd annual KC Animal Health Corridor Market Insight Seminar. All registration proceeds will be donated to Kansas State Animal Response Team (KS SART) and KSDS Assistance Dogs, Inc.
Animal Health Corridor Homecoming Dinner
August 20, 5:00 – 9:00 pm
The KC Animal Health Corridor’s annual Homecoming Dinner is an exclusive gathering of industry leaders from around the world to celebrate global industry successes and growth.
Animal Health Investment Forum
August 21, 7:30 am – 6:00 pm
The KC Animal Health Investment Forum is one of the only opportunities in the world for early stage animal health companies to present their vision and business plan to potential investors.
For details, go to http://kcanimalhealth.thinkkc.com/events/annual-events
REGISTER NOW for Early Bird Pricing: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-annual-kc-animal-health-corridor-events-tickets-42649524877
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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
• Merck announced a partnership agreement with Vinovo B.V., a division of the leading hatchery automation company, Viscon Hatchery Automation to bring together MSD Animal Health’s unique broad vaccine product line and Vinovo’s novel vaccine delivery system to provide a new standard in safe and effective in ovo poultry vaccination. (ThePoultrySite)
• Cargill Animal Nutrition announced the launch of NutreBeef Safe-Guard (fenbendazole) Dewormer Mineral (Medicated), now available from Nutrena dealers nationwide. The product combines Safe-Guard from Merck Animal Health with a high quality, free-choice mineral formula from Cargill Animal Nutrition. (BovineVetOnline)
• Pathway Vet Alliance announced the formation of a new partnership with Heska Corporation. Pathway plans to align its internal diagnostic portfolio with Heska, which can provide in-house operational services like point of care blood diagnostics, digital imaging, allergy testing and more in a fully integrated and streamlined manner within Pathway systems. (PRNewswire)
• Kindred Biosciences, Inc. announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 4,631,578 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $9.50 per share, for a total offering amount of $44 million before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by KindredBio. The offering is expected to close on June 22, 2018. (company website)
• Private equity firm Wind Point Partners announced it has acquired the Pestell Group, which is comprised of two distinct business units: Pestell Minerals & Ingredients (a distributor of animal feed minerals and ingredients for livestock) and Pestell Pet Products (a manufacturer of cat litter and small animal bedding products). Financial terms were not disclosed. (Feedstuffs)
• BioZyme Inc. announced it has acquired Cogent Solutions Group LLC (CSG), a leader in the research, development and production of bioactive polysaccharides. CSG’s MHB3 Hyaluronan recently received its seventh U.S. patent for supporting joint health in mammals. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Feedstuffs)
• Scratchpay, a fintech company focused on veterinary care, announced it has raised a $6.5 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Companion Fund, a pet-care focused investment arm launched by Mars Petcare. Scratchpay’s platform allows individuals with vet bills from $2,000 to $10,000 to apply for payment plans. If approved, applicants view and choose between various Scratchpay payment and interest options. Once the plan is set, the vet receives a confirmation email and Scratchpay pays the clinic through direct deposit. (news.crunchbase.com)
• JAPAN Sharp Corp. announced it will introduce in July the Pet Care Monitor, a “smart” litter box in Japan that automatically captures and analyzes data about a cat’s urine, along with weight and other measurements, that might indicate a medical problem. If abnormalities are detected, the cat’s owner is notified via smartphone. (APPA Smartbrief – CBSnews.com)
• EU Alivira Animal Health announced it has received CEP (Certificate for European Pharmacopeia) for Carprofen API for use in geriatric dogs in injectable or oral form. The product is manufactured at Alivira’s USFDA-approved facility in India. (company press release)
• PERU Agrovet Market Animal Health announced it has acquired Pharmadix Laboratories, the leading subcontractor for veterinary pharmaceuticals in Peru. The firm expects the acquisition to help it to reach revenues of around $17 million in 2018. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Animal Pharm)
• NETHERLANDS Coppens International announced it is rebranding to Alltech Coppens after being acquired by Alltech in 2016. (Animal Pharm)
• NIGERIA Neovia announced it has acquired a majority stake in Nigerian premix feed manufacturer Hi Nutrients. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Animal Pharm)
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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS
• US – ASSOCIATION CHANGES Bob Vetere, president and CEO of the American Pet Products Association (APPA) will retire following the 2019 Global Pet Expo, March 20-22, according to Pet Product News. The APPA board has selected Steve King, president of Pet Industry Distributors Association (PIDA), as Vetere’s successor. (Pet Product News)
• US – MASTITIS RESEARCH Oregon State University researchers have developed a blood test that uses biomarkers to identify dairy cows that are susceptible to bovine clinical mastitis before they are affected. The interdisciplinary research team published its findings in the Journal of Dairy Science. (Feedstuffs)
• US – ANTIBIOTIC ALTERNATIVES Purdue University researchers have identified a new compound that, in preliminary testing, has shown itself to be as effective as antibiotics approved by the FDA to treat life-threatening infections while also appearing to be less susceptible to bacterial resistance. The compound, called F6, has been potent against pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA). F6, which is nontoxic to humans and other mammals, works against the group of Gram-positive bacteria, but not against Gram-negative bacteria. The results of the study were published in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. (Feedstuffs)
• UK – PRRS RESEARCH Scientists at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh have produced pigs that are resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus by changing their genetic code. Researchers at The Roslin Institute used gene editing techniques to remove a small section of the CD163 gene. Tests with the virus found that the pigs do not become infected at all, and the animals show no signs that the change in their DNA has had any other impact on their health or well-being. (Feedstuffs)
• WORLD – GENOME RESEARCH A consortium of international scientists has proposed plans to establish the Earth BioGenome Project, which will aim to sequence the DNA of all known eukaryotic species on Earth. Eukaryotes are organisms whose cells have a nucleus that contains their chromosomal DNA. There are 1.5 million known species of eukaryotes that will be targeted by the project, including animals, plants, fungi and other organisms. So far, the genomes of less than 0.2% of eukaryotic species have been sequenced. Genomic data from the project will be made a free resource for scientific discovery. (Animal Pharm)
• US – DISEASE SURVEILLANCE Researchers are training dogs to sniff out animal disease. Five dogs were recently adopted from shelters and animal rescue centers to become detector dogs for wildlife disease surveillance. The dogs are part of a collaborative 12-month program to evaluate the effectiveness of training and using dogs to detect and identify waterfowl feces or carcasses infected with avian influenza (AI). (Vet Advantage – Bovine Veterinarian)
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ANIMALHEALTHJOBS.COM
The best place on the web to find qualified job applicants!
AnimalHealthJobs.com, a service of Brakke Consulting, is an exceptionally capable partner for your recruiting efforts in the animal health and pet markets.
AnimalHealthJobs.com consistently maintains a high degree of talent: two-thirds of our registered users have a Bachelor’s degree, and 20% have some kind of advanced degree; one-quarter have over 10 years of industry experience. All registered job applicants have animal health experience or background, or pharmaceutical sales experience.
When you are seeking the best, come to AnimalHealthJobs.com – first.
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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
The news this week has a number of cooperative agreements to leverage technology or products to better compete in a competitive marketplace. There are a couple of stories related to the continued interest in animal health by equity funds and investors. As happens every week, there are various announcements related to consolidations via mergers. The market remains dynamic, with a number of activities occurring that could be disruptive.
If you’ve not done so already, we encourage you to attend the 2018 KC Animal Health Corridor Events which are listed earlier in the newsletter. Brakke Consulting will have several consultants in attendance at this meeting. If you’d like to schedule a meeting with one or more of our consultants in Kansas City please contact us at info@brakkeconsulting.com and we can help you schedule a meeting.
Have a great weekend!
Ron Brakke
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