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Thursday, May 08, 2014

World's largest animal-health firm doesn't seem too worried about FDA's new antibiotic restrictions

Drug companies that agreed to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's plan to phase out antibiotics used to spur growth in livestock don't seem too worried that the new rules will hurt their business, John Tozzi reports for Bloomberg Businessweek. The new rules ask companies to adjust drug label instructions to make sure animals only get antibiotics for medical reasons.

"Zoetis, which bills itself as the world’s largest animal health company," reported Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings included $1.2 billion on sales of antibiotics last year, more than a quarter of "its $4.6 billion in revenue for the year and 41 percent of its livestock business," and mentioned the pressure against antibiotics elsewhere but not in the U.S.

Zoetis Chief Executive Juan Ramón Alaix told analysts, "We think that despite this pressure that definitely will continue in Europe—and we have seen new regulations in countries like Belgium or France—we expect the antibiotic [market to] continue growing at the global basis, although at lower pace than the global growth of animal health." (Read more)

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