The Experts in Animal Health

October has always been one of my favorite months of the year.  Great weather, great sports, great activities for sportsmen – I could go on.  But business-wise, I always felt that October was like the start of the last lap around the track in a mile-long race.  I had three quarters (or laps) behind me, and I had to finish the year strong…and had to finish the budget for the next year.

This connection between budgeting and innovation came to mind after reviewing this week’s developments in the newsletter. Several companies announced the approval of important and popular generic products for companion animals and livestock.  And the FDA’s CVM announced they are restructuring their ONADE organization into two groups, one focused on generic drugs and the other on new, original drugs.  I have not yet been able to find out what drove this change, but it would not be a surprise that a big driver was the high volume of generic drugs going through the approval process.  Maybe it was a low volume of new drug applications.

I know that innovations in our industry are coming to market – Elanco’s dermatology product Zenrelia was just approved, and they expect approval of their parasiticide Credelio Quattro still this year.  But I often feel, especially on the livestock side, there should be more investment – budgets – for true innovation.  And launching new products always helps everyone run that four quarter-long race.

Bob Jones

 

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