This week found me thinking more about innovation in the animal health industry, primarily driven by attending the 2022 Animal Health Corridor Summit on Monday and Tuesday. KCAHC’s Kim Young and Emily McVey did a great job organizing a sold-out event that had a theme of brining innovation to our industry.
One half day of the Summit was dedicated to presentations from emerging companies, and I caught up with Tom Overbay of Expedite Animal Health, who led the coaching and selection teams for these start-ups, to find out more about them. There were 32 emerging companies that applied to present at the Summit and of these, surprisingly, about 60% of them were focused on livestock and 40% on companion animals. And of these 32, about 15% were product related, where an FDA/USDA approval would be needed and 85% were diagnostic or technology related. Of the 12 finalist companies, 7 were diagnostic or technology related, and an emerging diagnostic company won the competition, Vidium Animal Health.
Fabian Kausche touched on this at the Summit in his presentation, titled “Transitions in Innovation in Animal Health” where he reminded us of the historical waves of innovation in animal health – we are in a technology-based wave of innovation. But I cannot help but think expensive FDA user fees hamper drug innovation, a topic raised in a recent Viewpoint.
If you lead or know someone in an emerging company or would like to voice your opinion on FDA user fees and innovation, you have a chance to do so on September 6th from 10-11 am. Click here to join the meeting, where the FDA will be in “listening mode”. These sessions are generally very poorly attended. Written comments may be also submitted to the docket at any time by clicking here and currently, there are very few comments posted. Innovation in animal health is not easy, but perhaps if the FDA hears from you, they can help make new drug approvals easier.
Bob Jones
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