***********************************
Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for March 21, 2025
Copyright © Brakke Consulting
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
************************************
IN THE NEWS:
Brakke Consulting News
Animal Health Jobs
Earnings News
General Mills
Zomedica
Other News
BAF Petfood
Ceres Tag
Dechra
Elanco
ELIAS Animal Health
Fressnapf
GlobalVetLink
Jeffers
JustFoodForDogs
MWI
The Nutriment Company
Parasight System
Provet Cloud
TriviumVet
Vaxcell-Bio
VetStem
Yuhan
*****************************************
KC Animal Health Corridor
Animal Health Summit
Now Accepting 2025 Emerging Company Applications
Deadline for applications is April 1
The KC Animal Health Corridor is now accepting applications from early-stage companies to present at the 20th annual Animal Health Summit, held in Kansas City on August 25-26, 2025.
The 20th annual Summit is one of the only opportunities in the world for early-stage companies in the animal health, nutrition, diagnostic and technology sectors to present their vision, business plan and technology to potential investors.
The selection committee will consider companies that meet the following criteria:
– Seeking $500,000 – $20 million in funding, or strategic partnerships to advance a company’s technology
– Revenue projections of $20 million within 5-7 years
Applications are due by April 1. To apply to present as an emerging company, visit the Animal Health Summit application page .
For more information, contact Kimberly Young at young@thinkkc.com
*********************************************
EARNINGS NEWS RELEASES
- General Mills, Inc. reported results for its fiscal 2025 third quarter. Net sales for the North America Pet segment totaled $624 million and essentially matched year-ago results, including a 5-point benefit from the North American Whitebridge Pet Brands acquisition. Organic net sales were down 5%. Segment operating profit of $102 million was down 20%. (company press release)
- Zomedica reported consolidated financial results for the full year 2024. Revenue for 2024 grew 8% to $27.3 million. Net loss was $(47.0) million compared to a net loss of $(34.5) million in 2023. (biospace.com)
**************************************
Animal Health Jobs
With today’s tight competition for top animal health talent, you need every advantage to attract the best people. There’s a reason Animal Health Jobs is the premier job board for the animal health and animal nutrition industry. We are fanatics about matching the best candidates with the right jobs. A real person screens each candidate’s resumé for relevant experience, ensuring a high-quality talent pool.
With our tiered packages, you choose the level of service that’s right for your company. We accept roles across animal health, in marketing, business development, communications, technical services, sales, R&D and more. Whether you need a cat, dog, horse, pig, cow or poultry person, you’ll find the best ones here.
If you need top talent, there’s no time to wait. Register your company or call us at 1-252-203-0033.
***********************************
COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
- Elanco Animal Health Incorporated announced it has signed a research agreement with WEDterinary LLC, a newly formed research engine co-founded by a former Elanco Board of Directors member, to pursue transformational approaches to health care for pets. The initial phase will focus on several high potential programs using targeted gene therapy to treat chronic kidney disease in cats and explore emerging spaces to increase healthy lifespan for pets. (company press release)
- Dechra announced the launch of DuOtic (terbinafine and betamethasone acetate otic gel), a treatment for canine otitis externa associated with susceptible strains of yeast (Malassezia pachydermatis). This antibiotic-free solution provides veterinarians with a useful tool to practice antimicrobial stewardship. (company press release)
- MWI Animal Health unveiled an enhanced version of its Repleni-Trac Vault solution, designed to help companion animal and equine veterinary practices store and dispense controlled substances. (company press release)
- VetStem, Inc. announced it has secured additional funding to accelerate the final steps toward FDA conditional approval of StemStat Ortho, an allogeneic, off-the-shelf stem cell therapy for the treatment of canine osteoarthritis. (com)
- ELIAS Animal Health announced its adoptive cell therapy, ELIAS Cancer Immunotherapy (ECI), has received full approval from the USDA Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) for the treatment of canine osteosarcoma. (company press release)
- The FDA announced the conditional approval of TriviumVet‘s Felycin-CA1 (sirolimus delayed-release tablets) for the management of ventricular hypertrophy in cats with subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This is the first product approved for use in cats with HCM for any indication. (FDA)
- Ceres Tag announced a new distribution partnership with Jeffers, with a retail presence in Alabama and Florida. (KC Connector)
- Parasight System unveiled its Complete Lab Solution, which integrates Parasight’s SightAI All-in-One Analyzer, the InSight V-Chem blood chemistry analyzer, and the InSight V5R hematology analyzer into a fully automated system. (company press release)
- GlobalVetLink announced a new integration with Provet Cloud veterinary practice management system. (prnewswire)
- JustFoodForDogs introduced JustFresh, a groundbreaking shelf-stable fresh food in convenient, resealable pouches. (prnewswire)
- KOREA Korean biotech company Vaxcell-Bio announced it will officially launch Vaxleukin-15, Korea’s first pet immunotherapy, in late March. Vaxleukin-15 is indicated for treatment of canine mammary tumors. Yuhan will distribute the drug nationwide. (koreabiomed.com)
- GERMANY The Nutriment Company (TNC) recently announced its acquisition of German pet food company BAF Petfood from Fressnapf. BAF Petfood specialized in the production of high-quality raw pet food in many formats. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Petfood Processing)
*********************************************
ANIMAL HEALTH STOCK PRICE TRACKER
- US – AVIAN INFLUENZA The United States reported the first outbreak of the deadly H7N9 avian influenza on a poultry farm since 2017, as the country continues to grapple with the H5N1 strain that has infected humans and caused egg prices to hit record highs. The latest outbreak of H7N9 in the U.S. was detected on a farm of 47,654 commercial broiler breeder chickens in Noxubee, Mississippi. (Reuters)
- US – AVIAN INFLUENZA The USDA – in consultation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the CDC, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the FDA – announced initial plans for a funding opportunity to explore prevention, therapeutics, research, and potential vaccine candidates to combat highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). USDA will invest up to $100 million in these projects. USDA is offering a webinar to assist interested applicants in learning more about the funding opportunity and how to submit a proposal on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 12pm ET; Click Here for more information about the webinar. (USDA)
- US – VETERINARY VISITS A newly released white paper from Vetsource reported that veterinary patient visits are decreasing and the gap between appointments is increasing. The paper, titled Behavior shift: Implications of today’s pet owner trends on veterinary medicine in 2025, showed that veterinary visits had decreased 2.3% in 2024 compared to 2023, and the time between visits increased by 48% increase between visits compared to the same period 3 years ago. (DVM360)
- US – CULTURED PROTEIN The FDA has granted regulatory clearance for a new human food made with cultured pork fat cells. FDA said it has no questions at this time about firm Mission Barn’s production process and ruled the product is safe as comparable foods produced by other methods. Mission Barn uses belly fat cells from domestic Yorkshire pigs and grows the cells in a controlled environment to make cultured pork fat. Before the cultured pork fat product can be marketed for use in food, it must also meet USDA regulations. (Feedstuffs)
- US – EGG PRICES The Lowering Egg Prices Act was introduced in Congress to cut bureaucratic red tape that forces farmers to discard hundreds of millions of eggs each year. Federal regulations require the refrigeration of eggs 36 hours after they are laid. But that rule does not distinguish between table eggs – which are raw and need to be refrigerated – and breaker eggs, which are pasteurized for use in everyday grocery products. The Lowering Egg Prices Act would grant regulatory discretion on the refrigeration requirement for broiler eggs, thus putting hundreds of millions of breaker eggs back on the market. (Feedstuffs)
************************************
BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
This week’s news items included a white paper from data analytics company Vetsource that indicates that vet visits are down, and revenue growth at clinics is slowing. The profession benefitted from a surge in demand for veterinary care during the pandemic, as well as post-pandemic price increases that were above inflation rates. It appears that the near future may not be quite as rosy for veterinary practices.
Pet owners are no doubt feeling squeezed between higher vet costs and current economic headwinds, and this is unlikely to improve in the short term. A “state of the profession” address by the AVMA’s chief economist at the recent Western Veterinary Conference reinforced this assertion, citing economic indicators that point to a potential recession.
Decisions on wellness care for pets have been particularly impacted: the Vetsource data showed that wellness visits declined in 2024 (non-wellness, or sick, visits were stable). Additionally, parasiticide purchases were down, both in number of patients purchasing and in months of protection dispensed. Some of the decline may be due to pet owners switching to purchasing products from retail channels, but it may also reflect cost-cutting choices.
The veterinary profession will need to look beyond price and fee increases to maintain revenue growth. Industry partners, it’s time to step up and support veterinary practices in their efforts to drive pet owners to visit their veterinarian, for both wellness care and product purchases.
Lynn Fondon
***********************************
YOUR VIEW
Last week, we asked about your experience with plant-based meat. Most of you either hadn’t tried it (44%) or tried it but didn’t care for it (30%). 19% eat it on occasion, and 8% routinely eat plant-based meat instead of animal protein.
English 
Portuguese 
Japanese 
Chinese