Last week, the annual JP Morgan annual healthcare conference concluded. Many of the top human and animal health companies presented their future visions to the investing community. Zoetis and Elanco were front and center and Merck mentioned its animal health business as part of its human health presentation.
I took a few minutes to look at the pipeline focus and products highlighted in these presentations. The pipelines are heavily concentrated on the companion animal segment. Therapeutic areas of focus in the pipelines include osteoarthritis/pain, renal disease, oncology, cardiology, dermatology and the next generation of parasiticides. Many of the pipeline products are monoclonal antibodies, injectable products and focused on long-acting formulations. What does this mean for the livestock segment? Maybe it’s just a lack of visibility into livestock pipeline products but it certainly seems that the R&D focus is on the segment of the market providing the highest growth rates.
It will be interesting to see how the overall market evolves with the next wave of innovation. These new therapies that are primarily delivered via injections will drive patients back to the veterinary clinic. Will there be a bifurcation of the prescription market with Chewy/Amazon/PetMeds focusing on oral prescription and OTC products and veterinarians focusing on injectables and vaccines?
We will talk about innovation at the Brakke Consulting annual Industry Overview presentation at both VMX and WVC – hope to see you there.
Randy Freides
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