New IHS Markit Animal Health report reveals companion animals is fastest growing product sector

The animal health industry encompasses a broad spectrum of products used to prevent, control and treat diseases to ensure the health and productivity of animals.

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In 2019, the Top 20 Animal Health Products generated estimated sales of US$6.7bn from parasiticides and dermatological agents for companion animals and antimicrobials and immunological products for livestock animals.

Over the past decade, companion animal has been the fastest growing sector representing 75% of total Top 20 animal health sales in 2019.

Parasiticides, the largest product group continues to feature leading brands such as Advantage, Frontline, Heartgard and Revolution within the Top 10 animal health products. This segment has also had a number of new product introductions. Most notable are the chewable parasiticides from the new isoxazoline chemical class (Bravecto, Nexgard, Simparica and Credelio) and Seresto an antiparasitic collar providing protection for up to eight months.

The most significant innovation in the companion animal sector has been the introduction of Apoquel and Cytopoint from Zoetis for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in dogs. Cytopoint is the first monoclonal antibody to enter the animal health industry and more biological therapies are likely to follow.

A powerful trend reshaping the companion animal health market is "humanisation of pets" whereby they have become a family member. Pet owners are actively seeking to improve the wellbeing and longevity of their pets. This coupled with insights from pet wearable smart technology and more rapid diagnostic testing is fuelling innovation into targeted therapies to meet market needs. Products treating age related diseases will edge their way into the Top 20, such as treatments for osteoarthritis and pain e.g. Zoetis' Librela and Elanco's Galliprant.

Animal health products to treat infectious diseases in livestock are important to ensure the safe supply of affordable food. Vaccines are the most cost-effective strategy for preventing infectious diseases. However, there are not always vaccines to prevent all infections and therefore emerging diseases such as African swine fever (ASF) have had devasting impact on the livestock industry and the broader economy.

Therefore, such disease outbreaks and concerns about antimicrobial resistance has prompted further efforts into vaccine development. Although use of antibiotics to treat infections is likely to continue on a controlled scale, the animal health industry is expected to move away from antibiotics towards vaccines.

The frequency and impact of new and re-emerging diseases is likely to grow as farms get larger and international trade continues to increase. Besides developing vaccines, the industry is also embracing technological advancement to improve productivity, welfare and management of livestock.

Over the last decade major animal health companies have made acquisitions to build a portfolio of preventative technologies. This includes surveillance systems and sensor technologies that capture data on individual animals with the potential to detect diseases before they spread.

Also rapid on-farm diagnostic testing that can identify specific pathogen are being developed. In addition, the use of microbiome to improve gut health and potentially boost immune systems in animals represent tremendous potential in the livestock industry.

The animal health industry is going through a technological revolution delivering solutions beyond treatment options. The speed at which these digital technologies are adopted across both livestock and companion animal sectors will continue to accelerate with new technologies emerging to improve health and productivity of animals.

Methodology

This report is based on desk research using a variety of public information, IHS internal database and other publications that are provided in the references.

The leading animal health product were identified through IHS internal knowledge and company annual reports. Some of the animal health companies report individual sales of their top-selling products, others provide a total and some provide no information. Therefore, this list of the Top 20 animal health products is based on reported sales and best estimations.

The sales of the Top 20 products are presented in US dollars. Some of the companies report annual sales in US dollars and others in euros. This report provides a ranking of the Top 20 products in US dollars, therefore euro reported sales were translated into US dollars using the exchange rate from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Each of the Top 20 products were profiled to gain a deeper understanding into the life cycle management of the brand in the main markets of the US and EU. This was determined by following the brands regulatory status and development in these markets. In the US regulatory agencies for animal health therapies include the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the Centre for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), that is part of the FDA.

The USDA reviews applications for new animal vaccines and biologicals, the EPA accesses pesticide compounds used for animal health and the CVM small molecules and other animal health drugs. In the EU, animal health products are regulated via a centralised process through the European Medical Agency (EMA). It should be noted that in Europe products can also be approved via a decentralised process at a country level and these are not included in the report.

Contents

Chapter 1 is the executive summary.

Chapter 2 outlines the Top 20 animal health products ranked by sales in 2019 and analyses these products by key segments companion animals and livestock animals.

Chapter 3 discusses the leading products by companies.

Chapter 4 profiles the Top 20 products.

Author

Amita Barnish is a market analyst and report writer. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Chemistry from the University of Kingston and an MBA from the Swiss Business School. She has over 25 years of experience performing market and competitor analysis across multiple industries: agribusiness, pharmaceutical and biotechnology.

Please contact alan.bullion@ihsmarkit.com for any further information

This article was published by S&P Global Commodity Insights and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.