Animal Health News & Notes for March 11, 2022

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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for March 11, 2022
Copyright © Brakke Consulting
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
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IN THE NEWS:

Earnings News
Norbrook
Petco
Vimian
Weave

Other News
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
Adopt-a-Pet.com
AEA Investors
AmeriVet Veterinary Partners
Ark Animal Health
Bimeda
Boehringer Ingelheim
Cargill
Chico
Datacor
Dechra
Dermcare
Dogtopia
Elanco
Format Solutions
Imperial Capital Group
Mars
Nofaro
Norbrook
Pet Valu
Petco (Thrive)
Petco (Vital Care)
Petlove&Co
TeleVet
Thrive Pet Healthcare

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EARNINGS NEWS RELEASES

• Norbrook Laboratories reported results for its fiscal year ended July 30, 2021. Turnover was GBP 231 million ($303.8 million), a year-over-year increase of 9%. The sales growth was aided by 12% year-on-year growth from the US business. Norbrook ended its fiscal year with an operating profit of GBP 28.4 million ($37 million), compared to GBP 4.4 million in 2020. (IHS Markit Connect)
• Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. announced its financial results for fiscal year 2021 ended January 29, 2022. Net revenue increased 18% to $5.8 billion, driven by comparable sales growth of 19%. Net income improved by $190.9 million from prior year to $164.4 million. (company press release)
• Vimian reported results for the full-year 2021. Turnover was EUR 173 million ($190 million), an increase of 143% thanks to multiple acquisitions during the year (+16.5% organic). Adjusted EBITA climbed by 130% to EUR 53.5 million ($48.6 million). (IHS Markit Connect)
• Weave Communications, Inc. – a customer communications and engagement software platform serving the dental, optometry and veterinary markets – announced its financial results for the full year 2021. Total revenue was $115.9 million, representing a 45% year-over-year increase. GAAP loss from operations was $(50.4) million, compared to an GAAP loss from operations of $(39.6) million in 2020. (Businesswire) 

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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES

• Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA and digital platform, TeleVet, have announced a strategic collaboration aimed at leveraging technology and enhancing in-practice automation services. Per the agreement, Boehringer has made a minority investment in TeleVet and named the Austin-based start-up as its preferred U.S. veterinary health technology platform. (Veterinary Practice News)
• Elanco has voluntarily requested the US FDA withdraw approval of HavaSpan/SulfaSpan Prolonged Release Bolus, a legacy Bayer cattle product, from the US market because the product is no longer manufactured or marketed. The authorization withdrawal is part of the firm’s compliance with the FDA’s guidance requiring that certain products must either be withdrawn or updated to prescription from over-the-counter status. (IHS Markit Connect)
• Dechra announced it has licensed from Dermcare of Australia the marketing rights of the Malaseb brand of dermatology products in the United States. (company press release)
• Norbrook announced the relaunch of two medications for the treatment of pain and inflammation related to osteoarthritis in dogs: Carprieve Injection (generic carprofen) and Loxicom Oral Suspension (meloxicam). (Vet Advantage)
• Bimeda announced the re-introduction of OvaCyst (gonadorelin) and ProstaMate (dinoprost tromethamine injection) – formerly marketed by Bayer Animal Health – for estrus synchronization in beef and dairy cattle. (company press release)
• Petco and Thrive Pet Healthcare announced Petco has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Thrive Pet Healthcare’s remaining 50% stake in the parties’ pet hospital joint venture. The JV currently operates nearly 100 full-service veterinary hospitals in Petco pet care centers across 14 US states. Financial terms were not disclosed. (company press release)
• Petco introduced new benefits for their paid membership plan, Vital Care, including more benefits for dogs and a new plan tailored for cats. Petco also launched an affiliate program that extends exclusive Vital Care benefits and discounts to its affiliate partners’ employees and customers. In addition, Petco has teamed up with Hill’s Pet Nutrition, which supports shelters through its Food, Shelter & Love program, to offer exclusive Vital Care benefits and discounts to shelters across the country. (company press release)
• Dogtopia, a dog day care and wellness franchise, has secured the largest franchise agreement in company history, which will bring 60 new locations to cities across the US over the next several years. (Pet Product News)
• AmeriVet Veterinary Partners announced the closing of a $1.6 billion recapitalization in which funds managed by AEA Investors LP and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority acquired AmeriVet from Imperial Capital Group. AmeriVet currently operates 139 practices in 32 states. (Businesswire)
• Ark Animal Health, a division of Sorrento Therapeutics, announced it is raising funds for a spinout to become an independent entity dedicated to pet therapeutics. (IHS Markit Connect)
• Pedigree, a Mars brand, announced the launch of Rescue Doodles, a program that gives kids the chance to take the reins in finding the perfect adoptable dog for their family. The program uses AI technology and a machine learning model to match a child’s creative portrait with a similar-looking, adoptable dog nearby and is powered by Adopt-a-Pet.com, a Kinship company. (Prnewswire)
• Datacor announced it has acquired Format Solutions – a provider of formulation software for the animal nutrition and pet food markets – from Cargill. Financial terms were not disclosed. (IHS Markit Connect)
• CANADA – Pet Valu announced it has acquired Chico, an Ontario-based pet retailer with more than 60 franchised locations. Financial terms were not disclosed. (GlobalPets)
• BRAZIL Petlove&Co, the largest online platform for pet products and services in Brazil, announced the acquisition of pet-health plan company Nofaro. Financial terms were not disclosed. (PRNewswire)

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ANIMAL HEALTH STOCK PRICE TRACKER

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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS

• US – GENE EDITING The FDA announced it has made a low-risk determination for the marketing of products, including food, from two genome-edited beef cattle and their offspring after determining that the intentional genomic alteration (IGA) does not raise any safety concerns (low-risk determination). The IGA results in the equivalent genotype (genetic make-up) and short-hair coat trait seen in some conventionally bred cattle, known as a “slick” coat. While this is the FDA’s first low-risk determination for enforcement discretion for an IGA in an animal for food use, the FDA has made low-risk determinations for enforcement discretion for many other IGAs in animals for non-food uses and also has approved applications for five IGAs: in groups of goat, chicken, salmon, rabbit and, most recently, in a line of pigs. (FDA)
• WORLD – SWINE RESEARCH An international team of researchers from Denmark, Switzerland, France, Germany, Norway and the Czech Republic have translated pig grunts into emotions, using an algorithm that can decode whether an individual pig is experiencing a positive emotion (‘happy’ or ‘excited’), a negative one (‘scared’ or ‘stressed’) or somewhere in between. The findings were published today in Scientific Reports. (Feedstuffs)
• US – CYBERSECURITY The cybersecurity incident-response firm Mandiant revealed a long-running hacking campaign that breached at least six US state governments over the past year, using a vulnerability in the Animal Health Emergency Reporting Diagnostic System (USAHERDS) to penetrate at least two of those targets. It may have hit many more, given that 18 states run USAHERDS on web servers, and any of those servers could have been commandeered by the hackers. The app developer, Acclaim Systems, has now patched the vulnerability that enabled access. The campaign is believed to have been the work of the notorious Chinese cyberespionage group APT41.   (AVMA SmartBrief – Wired.com)

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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
The most welcome sign yet that we are “returning to normal” was the Western Veterinary Conference, held March 6-9 in Las Vegas.  Attendance was excellent, nearly back to pre-COVID levels.  The sessions were well attended and the exhibit hall was large and busy.  Our compliments to the Viticus Group that hosts the conference.  It was also wonderful to see so many industry colleagues – truly see them; not many people were wearing masks.  (Hopefully there won’t be any coronavirus repercussions!)  The Brakke Consulting Industry Overview was standing room only.  A special thank you to Greg Hartmann/NVA, Randolph Legg/Boehringer Ingelheim, and Steve Shell/MWI for providing fascinating insights during the panel discussion.  (The Overview – without the panel discussion – is now available to present to your management teams live or via Zoom.  Just contact us to schedule it.)

Let’s hope that this is truly a trend back to regular activities.

John Volk, Senior Consultant
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YOUR VIEW

Last week we asked, What is most important factor when selling a generic antibiotic in the livestock industry?  Your response:  Price – 43%, Sales Force – 37%, Availability – 13%, Other – 7%.

This week

This week we have two questions:

(1) Will you be returning to in-person attendance at conferences and seminars for the remainder of 2022?
(2) Will your company be exhibiting live at conferences and trade shows during the remainder of 2022?