Drug deal spiced up NMC meeting

More than 300 people attended the NMC (National Mastitis Council) annual meeting this week at Charlotte, N.C. Each year, the meeting attracts a wide variety of people from across the dairy industry. About 30 percent of those attending were from outside of the U.S. Participants include veterinarians, dairy plant and co-op milk quality staffs, extension personnel, dairy producers, researchers, government officials, and people who work in the pharmaceutical industry.
It was an interesting week for those in the animal health business, and the hallway talk was intense. On the first day of meeting, it was announced that Pfizer, Inc., planned to purchase Wyeth for a reported $68 billion . . . that's "billion" with a "b". Of course, Pfizer has a well-known animal health division, and Wyeth's holdings include Fort Dodge Animal Health. The final acquisition may take months because of various regulatory approvals and financial arrangements. However, those months will be filled with speculation about the future of the people employed in those animal health divisions and the products offered.
Pfizer and Fort Dodge have six of the seven top lactating-cow mastitis treatments and six of the seven top dry cow treatments.
The Federal Trade Commission likely won't let a single company have two similar, competing products, so there probably will be changes ahead in what drug companies offer what mastitis treatments and pharmaceuticals. The two firms also have competing vaccines and worming products.
As big as the animal health industry is, it pales in comparison to the human drug business of Pfizer, Wyeth and others. One industry representative put this in perspective. The sales of drugs to lower cholesterol levels total somewhere around $27 billion a year. Sales of all animal health products, including companion animals, are in the range of $16 billion.