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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for July 30, 2021
Copyright © Brakke Consulting
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
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IN THE NEWS:
Brakke Consulting News
Field Sales Force Census report now available
Earnings News
ECO Animal Health
Merck
Nestlé
PetMed Express
Vetoquinol
Other News
Aeronics,
Bio Agri Mix
Chewy
DW Healthcare Partners
Embark Veterinary
LifeLearn Animal Health
Midori USA
MWI
PetCure Oncology
Pet Releaf
ProSites
Royal DSM
Simmons Pet Food
Virbac
Wisdom Panel
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BRAKKE CONSULTING
FIELD FORCE CENSUS OF LEADING ANIMAL HEALTH COMPANIES
July 2021
Now you can benchmark field sales and veterinary service teams of leading companies in the US Animal Health Industry. Brakke Consulting has developed a census of the sales and professional service organizations of 10 major companies, including both pharma and diagnostics. The report is available for all species or by species group (companion animal & equine, food animal).
The report includes field sales and veterinary professional services headcounts for the following companies:
- Boehringer Ingelheim
- Ceva
- Dechra
- Elanco
- Heska
- IDEXX
- Merck
- Vetoquinol
- Virbac
- Zoetis
The full report is available for $6,000; CA+EQ only is $5,000; and FA only is $4,000. For more information about the report, contact John Volk, Senior Consultant at john@volkonline.com or (773) 327-4941. To order, contact Amanda McDavid at amcdavid@brakkeconsulting.com or (336) 396-3916.
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COMPANY EARNINGS RELEASES
- Merck announced financial results for the second quarter of 2021. Animal Health sales totaled $1.472 billion for the second quarter of 2021, an increase of 34% compared with the second quarter of 2020 (+27% currency adjusted). The COVID-19 pandemic unfavorably affected Animal Health sales by approximately $100 million in the second quarter of 2020 but had no impact in the second quarter of 2021. (company press release)
- Vetoquinol reported results for the first half of 2021. Sales were EUR 255 million ($304 million), up 30% as reported year-over-year (+34% at constant exchange rates, +17% organic growth). Net income was EUR 36.2 million ($43 million), up from EUR 15.0 million in the first half of 2020. (Businesswire)
- Nestlé reported results for the first six months of 2021. PetCare sales were CHF 7.40 billion ($8.04 billion), an increase of 6% over the prior-year period (+9.5% real internal growth). Underlying trade operating profit for the segment was CHF 1.57 billion ($1.70 billion), an increase of 2%. (company website)
- PetMed Express, Inc. announced its financial results for its first quarter ended June 30, 2021. Net sales were $79.3 million, a decline of 18% compared to the prior-year quarter, but relatively flat versus the quarter ended June 30, 2019, prior to the pandemic. Net income was $4.4 million compared to net income of $7.8 million for the same quarter the prior year. (Yahoo finance)
- ECO Animal Health Group reported results for the year ended March 31, 2021. Sales were GBP 105.6 million ($146 million), an increase of 46% year-over-year. Profit before tax was GBP 20.3 million ($28 million) compared to GBP 6.1 million (restated) in 2020. (company press release)
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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
- Virbac Corporation announced the availability of Cyclavance (cyclosporine oral solution), an oral solution for the control of atopic dermatitis in dogs. Cyclavance oral solution represents the first FDA-approved liquid cyclosporine for dogs in the US. (EINnews.com)
- Chewy announced plans to open a regional e-commerce fulfilment center in Tennessee in the fall of 2022. It will be Chewy’s first in the state and fourteenth in the country. (GlobalPets)
- Simmons Pet Food officially began the first phase of commercial operation at its $100 million, 275,000-square-foot canned pet food operation in Dubuque, IA. A second production line is being added in early 2022 to bring total capacity to approximately 408 million units. (GlobalPets)
- Pet Releaf announced the launch of Sentesa, a hemp-based supplement developed exclusively for veterinarians. Sentesa’s triactive formula consists of cannabidiol (CBD), β-caryophyllene, and caprylic acid. (DVM360)
- Royal DSM announced it has acquired Midori USA, Inc., a biotechnology start-up with a novel precision platform developing breakthrough targeted eubiotics that improve the health and environmental impact of animals. DSM already owned 38.5% of the shares of Midori and has acquired the remaining 61.5% for a consideration of $63 million. (PRnewswire)
- Embark Veterinary, Inc. announced $75 million in Series B funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2**, with previous investors also participating. According to the company, it is the biggest Series B for a pet startup to date. (PRnewswire)
- Aeronics,, announced a collaboration with MWI Animal Health to expedite veterinarians’ access to Pawprint Oxygen, which provides veterinarians and pet owners with oxygen for home rescue, transport, and extended oxygen therapy. (company press release)
- PetCure Oncology has launched an online platform that allows veterinarians to connect with radiation oncologists to provide comprehensive care for veterinary cancer patients. The free tool will provide doctors with immediate access to board-certified radiation oncologists, allowing practices to offer oncology consultation services in-house. (Vet Advantage)
- ProSites, a leading provider of marketing technology solutions for local business owners, announced today it has acquired LifeLearn Animal Health. The acquisition increases ProSites’ investment in the animal health market along with providing a Canadian satellite office near Toronto. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Yahoo finance)
- Wisdom Panel announced the development of a new breed detection system, called BCSYS, to offer comprehensive genetic testing for dogs. The system leverages best-in-class Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods and the largest dog DNA database in the world to provide >98% accuracy in dog DNA testing. (Valdostadailytimes.com)
- CANADA DW Healthcare Partners (DWHP) announced an investment in Bio Agri Mix, a manufacturer and distributor of medicated feed additives and water-soluble medications for livestock in Canada. Financial terms were not disclosed. (IHS Markit Connect)
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ANIMAL HEALTH STOCK PRICE TRACKER
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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS
- DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – ASF The USDA Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory confirmed the discovery of African swine fever (ASF) in samples collected from pigs in the Dominican Republic through an existing cooperative surveillance program. Pork and pork products from the Dominican Republic are currently prohibited entry as a result of existing classical swine fever restrictions. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is increasing inspections of flights from the Dominican Republic to ensure travelers do not bring prohibited products to the US. CBP will also be ensuring that garbage from these airplanes are properly disposed of to prevent the transmission of ASF. (Feedstuffs)
- US – FDA FEES The FDA announced the fiscal year (FY) 2022 fee rates and payment procedures for animal drugs subject to user fees under the Animal Drug User Fee Amendments of 2018 (ADUFA IV) and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2018 (AGDUFA III). Click here for details. (FDA)
- US – TICK SURVEILLANCE The Asian longhorned tick is spreading across the US and has come as far east as Arkansas and as far north as New York since it was first discovered in the US in 2017. The tick is known to spread Theileria orientalis Ikeda, which can be fatal to livestock; so far, one similar occurrence has been documented in Virginia. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service currently maintains a map of the tick’s spread. (Feedstuffs)
- IRELAND The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) announced that the prescription status of approximately 230 medicines will change, meaning that they will require a prescription after January 2022. Feed additives are not impacted by the rule. The only exception to the prescription-status change relates to anti-parasitics for bees, based on a recommendation by the HPRA’s Advisory Committee for Veterinary Medicines (ACVM). (Agriland.ie)
- UK – POULTRY VACCINE RESEARCH Researchers at the Pirbright Institute have developed an improved poultry influenza vaccine. The potential vaccine triggers a rapid immune response which protects chickens against signs of disease and reduces the level of virus that they could pass on, a key element to halting the spread of bird flu through flocks. The vaccine would also be easier and less costly to produce than the traditional flu vaccines made in chicken eggs. The research was published in in npj Vaccines. (Feedstuffs)
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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
We’ve got a mixed economic report from the few companies reporting this week. The overall upward trend seems unmistakable when looking at the broad range of results so far in 2021, but there’s a strong message that higher volatility will be with us for some time.
More concerning may be our lead item in the Animal Health News section of the newsletter, which details the discovery of African Swine Fever in the Dominican Republic. The USDA published a statement confirming their identification of the pathogen on Wednesday, July 28. This is the first known evidence of ASF in North America. Existing surveillance activities put in place to prevent the spread of Classical Swine Fever have succeeded in finding this first North American evidence of ASF. Kudos to the USDA and to the Dominican authorities for their vigilance. The hard work is ahead, however, to maintain the North American pork market in an ASF-free state. Any eruption of ASF in the US has a potential to immediately halt an $8.0 billion per year export business as the rest of the world could be expected to immediately stop all US pork imports.
Now, more than ever, the effectiveness of the North American pork industry’s biosecurity protocols will be tested to the limit. Every single person involved in the animal health business at any level has reason to support the efforts of the pork industry in this existential fight.
Jim Kroman
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YOUR VIEW
Last week we asked what you think the animal health industry growth will be for the second quarter of 2021. 8% of respondents thought that the industry will grow 5% or less; 61% pegged the growth between 6% and 10%; 23% predicted 11% to 15%, and the other 8% forecast more than 15% growth. We’ll see who’s right.
This week
This week’s question addresses the availability of workers for your business, since we’re reading a lot recently that says workers are not available in many industries. Please tell us whether filling open positions in your organization has been easy, difficult, or very hard for you in 2021. We’ll report the results back to you in next week’s newsletter.
How easy has it been to fill open positions in your organization in 2021?
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