Animal Health News & Notes for February 1, 2019

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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for February 1, 2019
Copyright © Brakke Consulting, Inc.

Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
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IN THE NEWS:

Brakke Consulting news
Industry Overview at WVC
AnimalHealthJobs.com

earnings news
Avivagen
Benchmark
Hester Biosciences
IDEXX
Merck

other news
Alivira Animal Health
Boehringer Ingelheim (new president)
Boehringer Ingelheim (USask)
Elanco (PLA)
Elanco (PharmAust)
Hills
Informa
Kindred Biosciences
LifeLearn
Merck
MJH Associates
Panion Animal Health
Performance Livestock Analytics
PetNurse
PharmAust
PupPod
Scratchpay
UBM Life Sciences Group
Vetsdirect

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ANIMALHEALTHJOBS.COM GETS A MAKEOVER

Our careers site, AnimalHealthJobs.com, has been newly redesigned. And although we have updated the appearance of the site, AnimalHealthJobs continues to offer the same high quality, industry-dedicated services as before, including multi-job discounts, 90-day runs, and access to a substantial database of pre-screened resumes. Check out the new look at www.animalhealthjobs.com

www.AnimalHealthJobs.com

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COMPANY EARNINGS RELEASES

• Merck announced financial results for the full year of 2018. Animal Health revenues were $4.2 billion, an increase of 9% compared to the prior year. Animal Health segment profits were $1.7 billion for the full year of 2018, an increase of 7% percent compared with 2017. (company press release)

• IDEXX Laboratories reported results for the full year 2018. Revenue for the full year was $2.2 billion, an increase of 12%. Net income was $377 million, an increase of 43% compared to the prior year. Companion Animal Group revenue was $1.9 billion, an increase of 14%. (company press release)

• UK aquaculture firm Benchmark reported results for the year ended September 30, 2018. Revenues were GBP 151.5 million ($200 million), an 8% increase compared to the prior year (+13% at constant currency rates). (Animal Pharm)

• Hester Biosciences reported results for the third quarter of its fiscal 2019. Sales totaled INR 416 million ($5.8 million), an increase of 30% compared to the prior-year period. (Animal Pharm)

• Avivagen Inc. reported its audited financial results for the year ended October 31, 2018. The Company reported revenues of C$1,072,572 (US$811,000), an increase of over 400% from the previous year, and a comprehensive loss from continuing operations of C$(4,834,059) for the year. (company press release)

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KC ANIMAL HEALTH CORRIDOR
2019 ANIMAL HEALTH INVESTMENT FORUM
NOW ACCEPTING PRESENTER APPLICATIONS

The KC Animal Health Corridor is now accepting applications to present at the 2019 KC Animal Health Investment Forum on August 27 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The 11th annual Forum is one of the only opportunities in the world for early-stage companies in the animal health and nutrition sectors to present their vision, business plan and technology to potential investors.

The selection committee will consider companies that meet the following criteria:
– Seeking $500,000 – $20 million in funding
– Revenue projections of $20 million within 5-7 years

Applications are due by April 9. To apply, go to http://kcanimalhealth.thinkkc.com/account/login.

For more information, contact Kimberly Young at young@thinkkc.com.

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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES

• Merck Animal Health announced its Cattle Care365 initiative to support cattle producers’ efforts to provide the best quality care for their animals. The program includes a series of employee training modules featuring industry experts; interactive quizzes; standard operating procedures (SOPs) and certificates of completion to document training. (company press release)

• Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health announced the appointment of Everett Hoekstra as president of its US business. Hoekstra will work with Timothy Bettington, the firm’s head of US commercial operations, to oversee the business. Hoekstra has been with Boehringer since 1997, most recently as chief financial officer of the US animal health business. (Animal Pharm)

• Elanco Animal Health Inc. and Performance Livestock Analytics Inc. (PLA) announced an agreement to provide joint customers with data from PLA’s fast-growing Performance Beef platform and access to Elanco’s Benchmark service. Elanco said its Benchmark service converts data into information to help beef producers identify strengths, opportunities and niches to pursue and measure improvements over time. (Feedstuffs)

• Hill’s Pet Nutrition announced it is recalling varieties of canned dog food following the discovery of elevated levels of vitamin D. An internal investigation by Hill’s confirmed elevated levels of vitamin D in 25 of their canned dog food varieties. Hill’s cited the cause as supplier error and will require the supplier to implement additional quality testing. (DVM360)

• Kindred Biosciences announced it has closed its public offering of approximately 4.8 million shares of common stock, with gross proceeds at approximately $46 million. KindredBio will use the proceeds to aid the approval process for: Mirataz in Europe; Zimeta Oral in the US; Zimeta Oral in Europe; and Zimeta IV in the US; as well as completing several pilot studies. (Animal Pharm)

• MJH Associates‚ Inc., announced it has acquired media assets from the UBM Life Sciences Group (part of Informa PLC). In addition to healthcare and pharma media platforms, the acquisition of UBM Life Sciences assets includes DVM360, Vetted and Firstline publications, as well as the Fetch series of three live regional conferences. These new assets will form a new business unit within MJH called MultiMedia Healthcare, LLC. Financial terms were not disclosed. (HastingsTribune.com)

• Scratchpay, a financial technology company focused on getting pet owners financial assistance to help pay for veterinary care, announced that its services are now available in all 50 states. (Vet Advantage)

• PupPod announced it has closed its seed investment round, raising $772,000. PupPod builds smart products for animals, with its smartphone-connected puzzle toys designed to provide mental stimulation for dogs. (Animal Pharm)

• CANADA Boehringer Ingelheim announced a five-year partnership with the University of Saskatchewan to foster innovation and leadership at USask’s Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE), and established the Boehringer Ingelheim Cattle Handling and Teaching Unit, which will support cow-calf research and vital data collection to improve animal safety and animal handling methods. (Animal Pharm)

• PharmAust and Elanco announced an agreement allowing PharmAust to reference certain safety and blood chemistry data generated for the approval of Monepantel as a antiparisitic drug for livestock. The agreement could expedite early proof of principle trials of Monepantel as an anti-cancer drug in dogs. The agreement supports the option agreement executed between the companies in April 2018. (Businessnews.com.au)

• JAPAN Alivira Animal Health announced commencement of operations in Japan by obtaining product approvals for S-Methoprene and Fenbendazole. (company communication)

• SWEDEN Panion Animal Health announced has closed a second round of funding totaling SEK 2 million ($220,749). Panion plans to use the capital to advance its R&D efforts to develop a gene therapy for epilepsy in dogs and cats. (Animal Pharm)

• UK LifeLearn Animal Health announced its partnership with Vetsdirect, the UK’s largest veterinary telehealth provider, and the launch of PetNurse, the after-hours telehealth triage service available to veterinary practices as part LifeLearn WebDVM websites. PetNurse works in partnership with veterinary practices to provide reliable after-hours support for pet owners who need instant answers to pet health concerns. (PRweb)

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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS

• EU – DISEASE FUNDING The European Commission announced it has committed EUR 141 million ($162 million) for animal health, to support the implementation of 142 approved programs for the eradication, control and surveillance of diseases. The total funding amount remains stable compared to last year. The funding targets African swine fever (ASF) and animal diseases transmissible to humans such as bovine tuberculosis, rabies and salmonellosis in poultry. (Animal Pharm)

• US – DISEASE OUTBREAK PREDICTION Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed an algorithm that could give pig farms advance notice of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) outbreaks. Researchers used weekly farm-level incidence data from 980 sow farms to create the model. The data included all pig movement types, hog density and environmental and weather factors such as vegetation, wind speed, temperature and precipitation. The most important risk factor for predicting PEDV spread was pig movement into and through the 10 km neighborhood, although neighborhood environment — including slope and vegetation — also influenced risk. The proof-of-concept algorithm has potential for use in real-time prediction of other disease outbreaks in food animals. (Feedstuffs)

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BRAKKE CONSULTING, INC.
INDUSTRY OVERVIEW AT WVC

“Growth, Disruption and Innovation”:
Brakke Consulting Industry Overview 2019

Industry executives will have an opportunity to gain new insights into the events and trends that are most shaping the animal health industry by attending Brakke Consulting’s annual Industry Overview at the WVC veterinary conference in early 2019. “Growth, Disruption and Innovation” is the theme of this year’s presentation.

The 2019 Animal Health Industry Overview will be presented twice this winter – once at the VMX in Orlando, Florida in January and once at the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The date for the WVC Overview is:

• WVC: Tuesday, February 19, 2019, 2:00 – 4:00 pm, Four Seasons.

Registration for the WVC Industry Overviews is now open. Seating is limited this year, so register early!

To register, go to www.brakkeconsulting.com and scroll down to the “What’s New” box. The price is $400 per person for online registration through Friday, February 15; late registration is $450. Discounts are available for multiple attendees from the same company; call 972-243-4033 for more information.

www.BrakkeConsulting.com

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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT

In our 2019 Industry Overview already presented at VMX and still to be presented at WVC, we comment on one of the main drivers in 2018 – that internet technology has really hit the animal health and veterinary industries. We expect new competitors to emerge driven by these technologies. In our company news this week, at least two items reflect this.

Without easy, inexpensive video, telemedicine would never be talked about – we talk about this in the 2019 Overview as well. One news item above is the announcement of LifeLearn’s UK business teaming up with Vetsdirect to launch PetNurse to help with patients after hours and in partnership with veterinary practices. There is and will be plenty of competition among telemedicine providers and we hope the industry knows what’s important.

And PupPod closed it round of seed funding last week. I was introduced to PupPod at the 2017 KC Animal Health Corridor Investment Forum as they demonstrated their product, a toy, that linked animal behavior, software, a smart phone and social media in one red KONG Wobbler. PupPod received the Innovation Award at Investment Forum, beating out 17 early stage businesses, many of them with great product ideas. This “toy” can make dogs modify their behavior and even make them smarter. (I could have used that toy when I took Organic Chemistry 201.)

The KC Animal Health Corridor Investment Forum is now accepting presenter applications for its 2019 event. If you know of early stage companies, tell them about it and if you want to see what is next, save the date on your calendar. We are hopeful and excited about how technology will change our industry.

Thanks,

Bob Jones

(If you have some stories to tell or thoughts about animal health and technology, I’d like to hear them. Drop me a note at rwjones@brakkeconsulting.com.)

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Dallas, TX 75234 USA