Animal Health News & Notes for March 19, 2021

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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for March 19, 2021
Copyright © Brakke Consulting
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
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IN THE NEWS:

Brakke Consulting News
Pain Management Products report – now available

 Earnings News
Kindred Biosciences

Other News
Barkibu
Companion
ElleVet Sciences
FSD Pharma
Innovet Italia
Munich Re
MYOS CORP
Patterson Veterinary
Vaxxinova
Zomedica

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2021 PAIN MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS FOR DOGS AND CATS
NOW AVAILABLE

Pain management is one of the leading topics in veterinary medicine today. Brakke Consulting’s annual report on Pain Management Products for Dogs and Cats includes such valuable information as:
– overview of acute and chronic pain in small animals

– discussion of the impact of the human opioid crisis on veterinary use of opioids
– review of new products, including performance of deracoxib generics
– estimates of US sales and prices of leading products
– pain management products in development, including monoclonal antibody products LIBRELA and SOLENSIA
– review of nutritional supplements used for chronic pain
– review of therapeutic diets for joint care
– discussion of the use of cannabinoids in veterinary pain management
– 2021 survey of 340 small animal veterinarians regarding use of pain management products

Pain Management Products for Dogs and Cats 2021 is now available and can be purchased for $5,950. Questions about the study can be answered by project manager Lynn Fondon, DVM, MBA at Lfondon@brakkeconsulting.com.

www.BrakkeConsulting.com

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COMPANY EARNINGS RELEASES

• Kindred Biosciences, Inc. announced financial results for the full year 2020. Net product revenues were $42.2 million compared with $4.3 million for 2019. The year-over-year increase in revenue was primarily due to $38.7 million from the sale of Mirataz to Dechra Pharmaceuticals, which was completed in April 2020. The net loss was $(21.8) million as compared to a net loss of $(61.4) million in 2019. (PRNewswire)

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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES

• Zomedica announced that it has recorded the first veterinarian sale of TRUFORMA and officially entered commercialization. Now available for purchase are TSH, total T4, and cortisol assays. Endogenous ACTH and free T4 are expected to be available during the coming weeks. (Yahoo Finance)
• Vaxxinova US announced it has received USDA approval for Vaxxon SRP Pasteurella, a vaccine against fowl cholera in poultry. (IHS Markit Connect)
• ElleVet Sciences announced the launch of the “ellePet” line of CBD+CBDA pet supplements made specifically for retail pet stores. Until releasing this new retail product line, the company’s products have only been available through veterinarians. (PRNewswire)
• MYOS CORP announced that it has entered a partnership with Patterson Veterinary to distribute its MYOS pet supplements. (PRNewswire)
• FSD Pharma announced that it has entered into a license agreement with Innovet Italia S.R.L., under which Innovet granted the Company a license to use ultramicronized-palmitoylethanolamide (or ultramicronized PEA) to develop FDA-approved veterinary anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of gastro-intestinal diseases in dogs and cats. (Business wire)
• Companion announced it is launching CompanionPro, a new living room AI-powered dog trainer. The device uses sensors to observe the pet, then uses artificial intelligence to respond with light, sound or a treat to reinforce desirable habits, using only positive reinforcement. (Vet Advantage – CNET)
• SPAIN Barkibu, a Spanish pet telemedicine startup, has raised $5.6 million to expand its operations.  The startup offers pet owners a range of pet health services, from a free AI-powered triage service that allows pet owners to figure out if their pet needs medical attention or not, to a subscription service for in-person consultations with veterinarians. Barkibu has an insurance partnership with Munich Re, and also partners with a number of pet care companies – including Mars Petcare – offering them the AI healthcare chatbot as a white-label service. (sifted.eu)

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ANIMAL HEALTH STOCK PRICE TRACKER

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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS

• NORTH AMERICA – TRADE The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced that they have developed a protocol to help ensure bilateral trade will continue if ASF is detected in feral swine in either country, while still absent from domestic swine. Upon an ASF feral swine detection, all trade between both countries would initially stop. Then, according to the protocol, trade would resume in three progressive phases with increasingly reduced restrictions on live swine, swine germplasm, and untreated swine commodities. (Feedstuffs)
• US – SARS-CoV-2 IN PETS The United Kingdom variant, B.1.17, of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been detected for the first time in a dog and a cat from the same household in Brazos County as part of a study led by researchers at Texas A&M University. The pets were from a household where the owner was diagnosed with COVID-19 in mid-February; neither animal showed any overt sign of illness at the time of their positive tests, although the owner reported that both had later been sneezing. This is the first reported finding of the human variant virus in any animal worldwide. (Agrilifetoday.tamu.edu)
• JAPAN – STEM CELL RESEARCH The veterinary school of Osaka Prefecture University has developed a new method of producing induced pluripotent stem cells for dogs from canine blood. To date, canine IPSCs have been produced from adipose tissue or skin cells. The university claims the new production technology provides an easy and cost-effective method compared to adipose-driven IPSCs in dogs. It expects the method to contribute to veterinary regenerative therapies and various pathological studies. (IHS Markit Connect)
• FRANCE – EQUINE RESEARCH Researchers at the University of Rennes have developed a headband that takes electroencephalogram (EEG) readings of the horse’s brain activity that they claim can tell how horses feel. Eventually, they say, the device could be used with other species. The team found that horses in individual stalls in a confined stable showed an average of 2.5 times more right-hemisphere “gamma” waves than those in open fields. In people, these waves are often a sign of anxiety, distraction or depression. The horses that spent most of their time out in the open showed twice as many left-hemisphere “theta” waves, generally a sign of a calm and attentive mind. More on the study is available from Science.  (Vet Advantage)

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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
Much of this past year has been about infection and immunity.  As a veterinarian and former livestock practitioner, it has been interesting to contrast my views with how the general public has received and processed information about COVID-19 infection and more recently COVID-19 vaccination.

Terms like herd immunity, PPE, PCR, biosecurity, comorbidity, immunosuppression, and RNA vaccines struck a familiar chord with veterinarians and animal health vaccinologists.  However, I detected that members of the veterinary list serve I read regularly struggled with how human vaccine efficacy and safety is established.  While controlled vaccination/challenge studies, conducted on relatively few animals, is sufficient proof of efficacy and expanded use in industry settings is proof of safety for animal vaccines, a less direct route is available for most human vaccines.  Perhaps we should be more grateful for the animal “volunteers” who help make veterinary vaccines possible.

The ultimate proof of any vaccine is use that produces a rapid decline in disease and hospitalization rates among the vaccinated, with an excellent safety record.  Thankfully, all of the COVID-19 vaccines seem to be reaching that bar.

Cary Christensen

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YOUR VIEW
Last week we asked you if you have been vaccinated for COVID-19.  It appears that the animal health industry is ahead of the country at large.  All readers 75 or older have been vaccinated, and 76% of those 65-74 years of age have also been vaccinated.  42% of those 55-64 have received their jab, and even 21% of those younger than 55 have done so.  Way to lead the vaccination parade!

This Week’s Question:
This past week I read an article by a business analyst predicting another mega (>$1B) consolidation transaction in animal health segment within the next three years.

What is your opinion?