VCA Hospitals to Promote Trupanion InsuranceJanuary 12, 2015Trupanion Inc. today was named the preferred pet health insurance provider at 580 VCA animal hospitals across the United States. The agreement brings additional visibility to a growing company that as of late October insured more than 207,000 cats and dogs, a 30 percent jump in one year. The exclusive arrangement includes in-clinic signage and brochures as well as a presence on the VCA website, Trupanion spokeswoman Britta Gidican said. “Trupanion will be the only vendor seen within hospitals,” she said. Bob Antin, CEO of the Los Angeles-based VCA chain, called the relationship “an important bridge to helping our pet friends stay healthy and happy.” “Together, VCA and Trupanion can help our clients access the highest and most suitable level of pet care that our veterinarians recommend,” Antin said. Trupanion went public last summer with a $71 million stock sale. The Seattle company planned to spend the money ramping up its marketing and paying down debt. The company’s business model pays for 90 percent of all veterinary diagnostics tests, surgeries, medications and hospital stays. Trupanion’s latest financial report showed a 37 percent jump in third-quarter revenue, to $30 million, compared with the same period in 2013. The …
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Veterinary Distributor MWI Selling for $2.5 BillionJanuary 12, 2015MWI Veterinary Supply Inc., one of the largest U.S. wholesalers of animal health products, has reached a tentative agreement to be acquired by AmerisourceBergen Corp., a leading distributor of human drugs. The $2.5 billion deal is subject to the approval of MWI shareholders but is expected to close by March, the companies announced today. The transaction would put AmerisourceBergen in the veterinary sector for the first time. The Chesterbrook, Pa., company has nearly $120 billion in annual global revenue and employs about 14,000 people. MWI, founded in 1976 by Millard Wallace Ickes, DVM, projects fiscal 2015 revenue of $3.2 billion from the distribution of companion animal, equine and livestock veterinary products in the United States and the United Kingdom. “Animal health is a growing market in the U.S. and internationally and is a logical extension of our pharmaceutical distribution and services businesses,” said Steven H. Collis, AmerisourceBergen’s president and CEO. “Combined with MWI’s expertise in veterinary and agricultural markets, we will collaboratively launch the next generation of superior animal health products and services together,” he added. The all-cash transaction, which won the unanimous endorsement of the MWI board of directors, is valued at $190 a share, an 8 …
Elanco Completes Takeover of Novartis Animal HealthJanuary 9, 2015Novartis Animal Health is no more. The division of Swiss-based Novartis AG officially merged with Elanco Animal Health as of Jan. 1 in a $5.4 billion sale to Elanco’s parent company, Eli Lilly and Co. One day later, Novartis’ U.S. line of Sentinel canine heartworm and flea preventives was spun off to competitor Virbac for $410 million to satisfy regulators’ concerns. The marriage of Novartis Animal Health and Elanco created the world’s second-largest veterinary pharmaceutical company after Zoetis Inc. “Elanco’s acquisition of Novartis Animal Health brings together two strong companies with a passion for serving the customer,” said Rob Aukerman, president of North American commercial operations for Elanco. “We will continue to offer the products our customers trust, while significantly investing in the development of new solutions to our customers’ greatest unmet needs.” Absent from the Elanco portfolio are Sentinel Flavor Tabs and Sentinel Spectrum, which Fort Worth, Texas-based Virbac will now sell. The line generated more than $90 million in U.S. sales in 2014. Virbac also took on an undisclosed number of Novartis employees—“predominantly commercial teams,” according to the company. “The addition of these strong brands to Virbac’s current portfolio of products, together with the doubling …
Vet Attaches Lego Wheels Onto Tortoise to Help it WalkJanuary 9, 2015 What happens when a juvenile spur-thighed tortoise can’t use its hind legs due to metabolic bone disease? You equip it with a set of wheels, as a German veterinarian did with Blade, who couldn’t walk around on his own. Veterinarian Dr. Carsten Plischke glued a set of Lego blocks and wheels onto the plastron of Blade, enabling him to move about by using his front and hind legs more proficiently. The hope is that Blade will slowly build his hind leg muscles as a result of his geometry modification from the Lego wheels. Plischke came up with the idea from his son’s Legos. "We mounted Lego wheels on the tortoise Blade because he had a bone metabolism illness and his shell was too heavy and he had a loss of muscles," Dr Plischke told Cnet.com. "That's why he couldn't pick up himself and walk any more. The bones were like rubber and the musculature had clearly diminished." This isn’t the first time a tortoise has gained a wheel. A few years ago, Washington State University veterinarians fashioned a swiveling ball type caster wheel on the plastron of an African spur-thighed tortoise whose left front leg was …
Newly Rebranded MediVet Biologics Looks AheadJanuary 9, 2015A leading manufacturer of regenerative products in veterinary medicine has a new look and a fresh outlook. MediVet America of Nicholasville, Ky., this week changed its name to MediVet Biologics and updated its logo, mission and customer materials. The company, a subsidiary of Medical Australia, also launched the website www.medivetbiologics.com. “The rebranding reflects the many recent changes the company has undergone globally uniting the veterinary holdings of Medical Australia, which include MediVet America, TutaVet and MediVet Pty Ltd.,” the company announced. “The rebranding will also serve to better define the products and services offered by MediVet for the large and small animal market as well as its vision for the future.” Among MediVet Biologics’ products are adipose derived stem cell treatments, autologous conditioned serum (IRAP ACS) and platelet rich plasma (PRP), which is used for everything from soft tissue healing to hip dysplasia. The company has research projects underway involving scientists at the University of Kentucky, the University of Georgia and Kansas State University. Among the available therapies, in-clinic adipose derived stem cell treatments “have been very well received by the North American veterinary market,” CEO Jeremy Delk said. “[The treatments] have allowed us …
Penn Vet Names New Board of Overseer MembersJanuary 8, 2015The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) has appointed Juan Luis Ferrer Perez, VMD, Felicia Madison Levy, Richard Lichter and Gail Riepe to its Board of Overseers. Overseer boards serve as bridges between Penn’s schools and centers and the community beyond campus boundaries, according to Penn Vet. Although overseers do not have fiduciary responsibility, the president, provost and board of trustees rely heavily on these boards to help inform the work of the schools and centers. “It is with great pleasure that we welcome four accomplished individuals to join Penn Vet’s Board of Overseers,” said Joan C. Hendricks, VMD, Ph.D., the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “Drawing on their varied professional expertise, Juan, Felicia, Richard and Gail will undoubtedly help bring Penn Vet to new heights.” Dr. Perez graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978 and completed his veterinary degree at Penn Vet in 1982. He worked for three years at County Animal Clinic in New York and then returned to Puerto Rico where he was born and raised. He established Hospital de Animales Villa Caparra in Guaynabo, where he currently serves as medical director. University …
Texas A&M Creates Eli’s FundJanuary 6, 2015In an effort to help veterans and their animals, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) has created Eli’s Fund. Specifically, the fund aims to provide financial support for active service men and women, medically retired veterans’ service dogs and retired military dogs with veterinary bills at the college. Eli’s Fund was spearheaded by Mike Moore, DVM, a CVM development council member. Dr. Moore’s original $5,000 gift to the Texas A&M Foundation to create Eli’s Fund honored Colton Rusk of Orange Grove, Texas, and his military working dog, Eli, whose family Moore knows well through his work on behalf of wounded warriors and their families. After Rusk’s death in active duty on Dec. 6, 2010, Eli refused to work or even move from Rusk’s cot at their base, so he was released to retire in Orange Grove with Rusk’s family. At that time, Eli was only the second dog in the United States history to be granted this honor, according to Texas A&M. The Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation has pledged to cover all of Eli’s veterinary care for the rest of his life. To give to Eli’s Fund, visit the Texas A&M Foundation
Balancing Financial Realities with Value of ProfessionDecember 31, 2014Many veterinarians who are just starting out may find it a challenge to pay off their high educational debt. For example, the average debt reported by Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine 2014 graduates was $170,380, a figure that may be hard to offset with an average reported salary of $64,678. “The downturn of the economy impacted veterinary medicine and what graduates could earn in their first year,” said Roger Fingland, DVM, executive associate dean for K-State’s College of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Veterinary Health Center. “It is important to educate people who want to be veterinarians about the financial realities. But, I think the value of being a veterinarian has to always be in the discussion.” Veterinarians not only treat pets and livestock, but also help with zoonotic disease maintenance. The interaction between animals and humans secures the continuous demand for the profession, and the fewer veterinarians we have, the larger potential for catastrophic disease, according to Michael Dicks, Ph.D., director of the economics division for the American Veterinary Medical Association. The objective of the economics division is to find ways to enhance the lifelong value of a veterinary degree, Dr. Dicks said. Understanding the …
Yellow Rockfish Fitted with Prosthetic EyeDecember 30, 2014 A yellow rockfish (Sebastes flavidus) at the Vancouver Aquarium got a second chance at a better life after veterinarians removed its eye that had been damaged by cataracts caused by age. After they removed the eye, the doctors fitted the fish with a prosthetic eye that served two purposes: to keep the fish looking OK cosmetically and to discourage other fish from attacking it on its bad side. The doctors said that other fish in the aquarium saw that the fish was missing its eye and attacked it on that side. Now that the fish is fitted with the fake eye, the attacks have subsided. The surgery was performed by Dr. Martin Haulena, DVM, MSc, Dipl. ACZM, of the Vancouver Aquarium with Dr. Lesanna Lahner, DVM, MPH, CVA, of the Seattle Aquarium assisting. The duo had previous experience attaching a prosthetic eye to a copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus). The surgery involved attaching the new eye to the fish’s eye socket with nylon sutures and titanium clips.
$42.5 Million Gift to Fund Regenerative Research at CSUDecember 30, 2014Two horse lovers plan to donate $42.5 million to Colorado State University to help researchers develop regenerative medical therapies for animals and people. The gift, the largest in the university’s history, will be used to construct and equip the Institute for Biologic Translational Therapies. The research conducted inside will look at stem cells and other therapeutic options for the treatment of ailments such as musculoskeletal disease, the university reported Monday. The gift from Denver-area philanthropists John and Leslie Malone allocates $10 million toward operating costs and $32.5 million for construction of a building that will house laboratories, surgical suites and meeting areas for veterinarians and physicians. The donation requires the university to raise $32.5 million in matching funds for the building’s construction. “We are tremendously grateful to John and Leslie Malone for their generous philanthropy, foresight and dedication to scientific discovery,” said Colorado State President Tony Frank, DVM, Ph.D. “In addition to being the largest cash gift in the university’s history, their commitment positions us to build on our foundation as a leader in translational medicine, where advances in veterinary medicine very rapidly move into the sphere of benefiting human health.” The institute will be unique, Colorado State reported, in its …
