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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for June 7, 2024
Copyright © Brakke Consulting
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
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IN THE NEWS:
Brakke Consulting News
Transaction Insights seminar – register now
Other News
Bimeda
Bionote USA
Bond Vet
Elanco
Independence Pet Holdings
IDEXX
Kemin
Nationwide
Oxford BioDynamics
Pangolia
PURETEIN Bioscience
Spot Pet Insurance
Suki
Vetsource
Vetstream
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Brakke Consulting
Transaction Insights: Unlocking the Secrets to Successful Business Deals in Animal Health
Wednesday, August 28th | Kansas City
Are you seeking to navigate the complex landscape of buying and selling businesses or technology in the animal health and nutrition industry? Given the success of last year’s relaunch, we are excited to announce our educational transaction seminar for 2024, tailored specifically for animal health professionals.
It’s more than just due diligence – we will help you unlock the secrets to successful deals in animal health. This one-day comprehensive seminar is designed to equip you with the knowledge, tools, and strategies to make informed decisions and to successfully manage a transaction in the animal health industry.
Presenters include Senior Brakke Consultants Jim Kroman, Paul Casady, and Randy Freides. The Seminar will be held on Wednesday August 28th, immediately following the KCAHC Animal Health Summit in Kansas City. Click here to sign up today and receive a discount.
For more information, contact Amanda McDavid at amcdavid@brakkeconsulting.com or 336.396.3916.
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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
- Elanco Animal Health announced an agreement with PURETEIN Bioscience LLC, designating Elanco as the exclusive distributor of PURETEIN’s celluTEIN bioactive livestock protein feed supplement for swine in the US. (National Hog Farmer)
- IDEXX Laboratories announced the launch of the Catalyst Pancreatic Lipase Test, a single-slide solution for canine and feline patients suspected of pancreatitis. (company press release)
- Bimeda, Inc. announced the launch of Bimasone, the first generic flumethasone for certain diseases known to be responsive to anti-inflammatory corticoids in horses, dogs and cats. Bimasone injection is supplied in a 0.5 mg/mL concentration in 100 mL multi-dose vials. (company press release)
- Kemin Industries announced the US launch of CholiGEM, an advanced rumen-protected choline supplement designed to address fatty liver and ketosis in lactating dairy cows. (prnewswire)
- Bionote USA has added a new one-step rapid test for the detection of Canine Heartworm (CHW) to its line of in-clinic diagnostic products. The standalone antigen test requires no analyzer or buffer solution, and results are ready in minutes. (company press release)
- Oxford BioDynamics Plc announced the development of a high-accuracy, discriminating multi-cancer canine diagnostic test for veterinary medicine. EpiSwitch SCB (“Scooby”) test is a blood test to specifically diagnose canine diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), T-zone lymphoma (TZL), hemangiosarcoma (HSA), histiocytic sarcoma, osteosarcoma, and canine malignant melanoma, in a powerful single assay format. (com)
- Independence Pet Holdings, Inc. announced it has acquired a majority interest in Spot Pet Insurance. This transaction builds on a partnership that began in 2022 with IPH’s first investment in Spot; in addition, IPH handles Spot’s underwriting, customer service, claims activities, and a variety of other administrative services. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Pet Business)
- Nationwide is dropping insurance coverage for about 100,000 pets across the country, citing inflation, the rising costs of veterinary care and other factors that company officials say are threatening long-term viability and profitability of its pet insurance business. The company, which insures 1.2 million pets, began sending letters to policyholders this spring and will continue into the summer of 2025. (Vet Advantage – Columbus Dispatch)
- Vetstream announced the launch of Vetlexicon Avis, offering clinical information for bird species, starting with domestic poultry (backyard chickens) and covering flocks of less than 1,000 birds. (company press release)
- Vetsource announced the launch of its third pet pharmacy in the Dallas-Fort Worth TX area, joining Vetsource’s other two pharmacies in Portland, OR, and Harrisburg, PA. (Pet Business)
- Bond Vet announced the integration of Suki’s Software Development Kit into its Vetspire Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform. This collaboration aims to seamlessly incorporate voice AI capabilities into veterinary care. (com)
- Pangolia – the parent company of Catster, Dogster, and Hepper – announced the launch PangoVet pet telehealth service. Starting June 2024, pet parents can receive expert veterinary advice through PangoVet’s online video calls. (com)
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ANIMAL HEALTH STOCK PRICE TRACKER
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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS
- US – AVIAN INFLUENZA The USDA announced it is adding an additional $824 million in emergency funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation and is launching a new Voluntary H5N1 Dairy Herd Status Pilot Program to give dairy producers more options to monitor the health of their herds and move cows more quickly while providing on-going testing and expanding USDA’s understanding of avian influenza. USDA previously approved the use of $1.3 billion in emergency funding to address nationwide highly pathogenic avian influenza detections in wild birds and commercial poultry operations. (Feedstuffs)
- US – ANIMAL WELFARE The Department of Justice announced Inotiv, parent company of Envigo, will pay more than $35 million as a resolution to an investigation involving a criminal search warrant at Envigo RMS’s beagle breeding facility in Cumberland, Va., in May 2022. This marks the largest fine in an Animal Welfare Act case. The DOJ’s lawsuit cited violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including inhumane euthanasia, inadequate care, and failure to meet minimum standards for animal handling and sanitation. (Veterinary Practice News)
- WORLD – REPRODUCTION GUIDELINES The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) announced the publication of the world’s first Global Guidelines on Reproduction Control. The Guidelines have been prepared by the Reproduction Control Committee (RCC) of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) and published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice, the WSAVA’s official scientific journal. (association press release)
- US – VETERINARY FUNDING The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), granted $246,000 in funding to support a faculty team at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in their efforts to recruit veterinarians to shortage areas in rural Alabama and support existing veterinarians already serving the areas. Separately, Kentucky announced the rollout of program applications for its new Rural Veterinary Medicine Student Loan Repayment Program, which will provide financial assistance to repay student loans to eligible veterinarians who practice in designated rural or underserved areas for a specified period. (Veterinary Practice News, Yahoo news)
- US – VETERINARY SCHOOLS Utah State University broke ground in Logan, UT for Utah’s first veterinary college, with construction expected to be complete by summer 2026. Previously, students would study for two years at Utah State and then finish vet school at Washington State University. (com)
- WORLD The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) announced Dr Emmanuelle Soubeyran as its 8th Director General Director General, for a 5-year mandate (2024-2029). (association press release)
- US – CANCER RESEARCH Researchers at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences have discovered that proton pump inhibitors (medications commonly used to treat heartburn and acid reflux in people and animals) may be effective at fighting cancer and other immune disorders in dogs, building on similar research in human medicine. Researchers said that while PPIs can’t be used alone to treat cancer, they may be able to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapies by combining them with PPIs. (Vet Advantage)
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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
Brakke Consulting gets a lot of inquiries from investors about pet health insurance. There are two items of note about pet insurance in today’s newsletter. Independence Pet Group, which owns more than a dozen brands of pet insurance, has expanded its portfolio with the addition of Spot. And Nationwide, which is the second largest pet insurance company, has announced the cancellation of 100,000 policies citing inflation and the rising cost of veterinary care.
Pet insurance is one of the fastest growing pet care categories with annual increases greater than 20% for the last four years, according to trade association NAPHIA. But margins are tight, no doubt contributing to Nationwide’s tough decision to cancel some policies. Many pet insurance companies routinely lose money. However, continued willingness of pet owners to spend more at the veterinary hospital, and the innovation of more sophisticated treatment options are viewed as growth drivers for pet insurance. We expect the rapid growth to continue.
John Volk, Senior Consultant, Chicago
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YOUR VIEW
Last week, we asked you to predict which consumer goods retailer is the winner this year as measured by foot traffic change from last year. 50% of you chose Aldi; 23% chose Walmart; 16% said Trader Joe’s; 7% chose Kroger; and 5% said Lidl.
The winner is Aldi with a whopping 25% increase in foot traffic, according to the Wall Street Journal. About 90% of the products Aldi sells is their own store brand and they plan to open 800 new stores by the end of 2028. Surprisingly, Walmart is down about 3%, which was the lowest and many people’s favorite, Trader Joe’s, was up 6%. By the way, Walmart is launching a premium store brand called Bettergoods, to go along with their Great Value brand – looks like that is where they see growth.
This week
Let’s test your knowledge of pet insurance. There are about 150 million owned pet in the US, according to AVMA. About how many were covered by pet health insurance as of the end of 2023?
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