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Animal Health News & Notes for October 8, 1999
**************************************************************** Brakke Consulting’s Animal Health News & Notes for October 8, 1999 DuPont announced the completion of the stock and cash merger with Pioneer Hi-Bred International, in which DuPont acquired the 80 percent of Pioneer not currently owned by DuPont. The value of the transaction is estimated to be approximately $7.7 billion. The H.J. Heinz Company announced that it is combining all of its U.S. grocery and foodservice businesses into a Pittsburgh campus to create a $5 billion North American powerhouse of brands and businesses. As a result, Heinz will relocate Star-Kist Foods, Inc. and its StarKist Seafood and Heinz Pet Products headquarters operations to Pittsburgh. In an important related development, Heinz announced that it will combine the sales forces of Heinz U.S.A., StarKist Seafood, Heinz Pet Products and Heinz Frozen Food into a single U.S. sales company. American Home Products Corporation announced a restructuring of its Cyanamid Agricultural Products business to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of this business unit in light of current conditions in the global farm economy. The actions being taken include approximately 700 position eliminations and certain facility closings worldwide. According to NextCard, Petopia.com is the fastest-growing electronic commerce business on the Web. Petopia.com’s transaction volume increased by 170% in September, NextCard’s eCommerce Index reported. Petopia.com was the only online pet retailer in the top
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October 8, 1999
Animal Health News & Notes for October 1, 1999
**************************************************************** Brakke Consulting’s Animal Health News & Notes for October 1, 1999 Internet pet supply retailer PETsMART.com announced today a second round of venture capital funding in excess of $50 million. The financing commitment was provided by PETsMART, Inc. and by the company’s initial outside investors, including idealab!, idealab Capital Partners and Global Retail Partners, in addition to new investor Big Dog Holdings, Inc. Scottsdale Insurance Co. of Scottsdale, Ariz., has purchased VCA’s minority investment in Veterinary Pet Services, Inc. (VPSI) of Anaheim, Calif., the parent company of Veterinary Pet Insurance, nearly tripling its investment in the nation’s oldest and largest pet medical insurance provider. VCA had invested nearly $5 million in October 1997, in exchange for preferred, non-voting Veterinary Pet Insurance stock. Virbac Corporation announced a strategic plan for the cost-cutting consolidation of its manufacturing and distribution operations, which the Company believes will result in annualized savings of approximately $1.1 million. All pet product distribution will be transferred to the Company’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility. Production at the Chicago, IL plant will cease by December 31, 1999, and be transferred to other existing Virbac facilities, and the majority of products presently produced in Los Angeles will be transferred to the Fort Worth facility. Alpharma Inc. announced that its Animal Health Division has acquired the exclusive worldwide license for REPORCIN
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October 1, 1999
Animal Health News & Notes for September 24, 1999
**************************************************************** Brakke Consulting’s Animal Health News & Notes for September 24, 1999 Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd., the leading Japanese pharmaceutical company, has announced that the company decided to reduce employee numbers from 9,139 to less than 5,000 by 2005, and may sell its subsidiary companies such as bulk chemical, agrochemical & animal health products, and vitamin & food additive business in order to focus on its human pharmaceutical business. The company sold a subsidiary feed additive business to BASF this summer. Takeda is the #2 animal health company in Japan, with an estimated $115 million in sales. Novartis AG dampened speculation on Tuesday that it would quickly spin off its beleaguered agribusiness and said its crucial drug sales were bottoming out in a weak third quarter. Speaking at a presentation on its drug pipeline to equity analysts in New York, Chairman Daniel Vasella said Novartis would not be rushed into deciding what to do with its agribusiness, which faces slumping sales and profit margins. Cell Genesys, Inc. announced a research collaboration with Pharmacia & Upjohn in which Cell Genesys will provide its proprietary adenoviral and adeno-associated viral (AAV) gene delivery technologies to Pharmacia & Upjohn to evaluate certain applications of gene therapy in animal health. Under the collaboration, Pharmacia & Upjohn will perform safety and efficacy studies in animals using
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September 24, 1999
Animal Health News & Notes for September 17, 1999
**************************************************************** Brakke Consulting’s Animal Health News & Notes for September 17, 1999 PETsMART.com is launching full force next week with a major national television campaign promoting its online presence. The new campaign promotes having the entire PETsMART store delivered right to the consumer’s door. In combination with PETsMART, PETsMART.com will spend in excess of $50 million to promote the website. The Iams Company and Pfizer Animal Health have teamed up to make September Senior Care Health Month, an initiative designed to encourage owners of dogs that are 7 years and older to visit their veterinarian in September for a Senior Care(TM) health check. Veterinary Centers of America Inc. (“VCA”) announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its investment in Veterinary Pet Insurance Inc. to Scottsdale Insurance Company for $8,250,000 in cash. VCA acquired its investment in VPI in January 1998 for $5 million and expects that when the transaction is finalized it will record a one-time gain of approximately $3,250,000. Myriad Genetics and the Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute today announced a two-year, $33.5 million partnership in cereal crop genomics. The genomic collaboration will focus on the discovery of the genetic structure of cereal crops such as rice, maize, wheat, barley and oats. The goal of understanding the genetic structure of these crops is to help plant breeders
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September 17, 1999
Animal Health News & Notes for September 10, 1999
**************************************************************** Brakke Consulting’s Animal Health News & Notes for September 10, 1999 Advanced Monitors Corp. announced that it has completed a clinical study using its Vet-Temp(TM) VT-100 Instant Animal Ear Thermometer. The Vet-Temp(TM) is designed to measure core body temperature in just one second, and works on all species of dogs and cats, regardless of size. The Iams Co has begun offering home delivery of pet food over the Internet. The service is currently only offered to its North American customers. Orders currently must be placed using an “800” number to order after browsing the menu online, but online ordering could be available in 2000. Embrex, Boehringer Ingleheim Vetmedica, North Carolina State U. and the Wm. R Kenan Institute have entered into a renewable vaccine research collaboration based on Embrex’s viral neutralizing factor (VNF) technology. The goal is to develop VNF-based vaccines for animal species other than poultry. Genus plc has agreed to acquire ABS Global from Protein Genetics Inc. Genus currently has a 60% share of the dairy and beef semen sales in the UK. Together, Genus and ABS will have a turnover of over $120 million in the worldwide cattle genetics industry. Marc van’t Noordende, currently the CEO and President of ABS, will become President of the global cattle breeding operations. Myriad Genetics and Novartis Agricultural Institute (NADII)
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September 10, 1999
Animal Health News & Notes for September 3, 1999
********************************************************************* Brakke Consulting’s Animal Health News & Notes for September 3, 1999 PETsMART, Inc. announced net sales for its fiscal 1999 second quarter ended August 1, 1999 were $564.5 million, an increase of 10.7% over the second quarter last year. Net income from operations was $5.8 million excluding one-time charges, compared to net income from operations of $2.5 million for 1998. As of August 1, 1999, the Company operated 476 stores in North America and 95 stores in the United Kingdom. Neogen announced that it has entered into an agreement to become the exclusive distributor of Biotrace rapid sanitation testing systems for the North American food and beverage market. Biotrace products are used by 19 of the world’s top 20 food and beverage companies. Industry estimates place the U.S. and Canadian sanitation testing market at approximately $50 million annually. Neogen has acquired the Fearing Equine Product Line from the Destron-Fearing Corporation, adding to its Gold Nugget Equine Product Line of grooming, insect repellent and hoof care products. Products in the Fearing line include insecticides and shampoos. IDEXX Laboratories and Caprion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that they will collaborate on the development of Caprion’s proprietary reagents for the diagnosis of Mad Cow Disease and other Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). The goal of the collaboration is development of a rapid diagnostic for detecting
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September 3, 1999
Animal Health News & Notes for August 27, 1999
********************************************************************* Brakke Consulting’s Animal Health News & Notes for August 27, 1999 Virbac’s provisional sales for the first half of 1999 were reported to be FF 870 million ($137 million), over 19% higher than last year. The integration of newly acquired subsidiaries in the US and South Africa were favorably mentioned. Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica last week reported a slight drop in sales for the first half of 1999. According to Boehringer Ingelheim, the continuing difficult situation in the swine market in America played a key role. PetMedExpress.com reported first quarter 1999 net income of $275,000 on revenues of $4.2 million, a sales increase of 68% over 1998. PETCO reported second quarter net sales of $236 million, up 20% over 1998, with operating income of $8.9 million. PETCO also reported 51 new superstores opened in the last 12 months. PETsMART.com and PetPlanet.com, Inc joined with AOL as Anchors in Pet Departments of Shop @ AOL, providing access to AOL’s 17 million members. PetPlanet.com will also anchor in Netscape and Compuserve’s shopping areas. Synbiotics Corporation, in collaboration with W3Commerce LLC, announced the launch of NetworkVet.Com, an Internet-based service to assist veterinarians in the marketing of their services to pet-owners. PetQuarters.com has completed the $9.2 million acquisition of Humboldt Industries, Inc, one of the largest U.S. pet supply catalogues with revenues of approximately
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August 27, 1999
Animal Health News & Notes for August 20, 1999
*********************************************************************** Brakke Consulting’s Animal Health News & Notes for August 20, 1999 Akzo Nobel acquired Hoechst Roussel Vet last week for $718 million. The combined sales of Intervet and Hoechst will be an estimated $920 million, placing it in the top 5 animal health companies worldwide. Proctor & Gamble acquired The IAMS Co. last week for about $2.3 billion. IAMS sales are approximately $800 million worldwide. Synbiotics Corp. announced revenues of $8.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 1999, a decrease of 7% over the prior year. Revenue for the six months ended June 30, 1999 was $19.2 million, a 7% increase over the prior year six month period. Synbiotics launched ReproCHEK, a new in-clinic canine pregnancy test. The test detects pregnancy 21-25 days post-breeding. Pfizer received two FDA approvals. Zeniquen, a canine fluoroquinolone, is available now; Revolution, a once-monthly flea adulticide and heartworm preventative, will be available in September. PetMedExpress.com announced record net sales of $10.3 million for its fiscal year ended March 31, 1999, up 184% over last year’s net sales. Net income for the period was $514,000, compared to last year’s net loss of $1 million. ******************************************************************************** Brakke Consulting’s New Top 10 Animal Health Companies 1. Merial $1,495 million 2. Pfizer 1,315 million 3. Bayer 1,000 million 4. Intervet 920 million 5. Fort Dodge 800 million
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August 20, 1999
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