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British company buys international marketing rights for pain relief product Tri-Solfen

Beef Central, 04/04/2017

Tri-SolfenThe owners and developers of Tri-Solfen have sold the international marketing rights for the pain-relief product to British company Dechra in a deal worth $18 million.

The deal was detailed in a press release issued by Dechra on Friday.

Dechra announced it has entered a long term Intellectual Property Licensing Agreement with Animal Ethics Pty Ltd, the Australian-based company responsible for the development of Tri-Solfen.

Tri-Solfen was developed largely in response to public campaigns in the early 2000s against mulesing, a procedure which involves cutting skin away from the back side of wool growing sheep in order to prevent future painful blowfly infestations, known as fly strike.

Tri-Solfen has a unique three-way action designed to numb the wound, minimise bleeding and protect against infection.

Since its introduction it has reportedly been used to provide pain relief to 70 million sheep for husbandry procedures such as castration, tail docking and mulesing.

In December last year it was formally approved for use on calves in Australia.

Animal Ethics says scientific trials have demonstrated pain alleviation up to 24 hours in calves after surgical castration and a significant improvement in wound healing in lambs.

The Licensing Agreement announced last Friday gives Dechra the rights to sell and market Tri-Solfen for all animal species in all international markets, excluding Australia and New Zealand.

Under the terms of the agreement, Dechra has agreed to make milestone payments on signing, upon the first and second anniversaries of the agreement and on the first two major species approvals in markets with significant potential. Additionally a royalty will be paid on all net sales.

Separately, Dechra has acquired 33 percent of the issued share capital of Medical Ethics Pty Ltd (Medical Ethics), the parent company of Animal Ethics and its only principal subsidiary, for a total consideration of AUD$18 million (£11).

The AUD million will be split as to AUD$9 million of new equity to provide funding to Animal Ethics and the balance to acquire existing shares from the current shareholders.

Under the terms of the Agreement, Dechra will have a seat on the Medical Ethics’ Board and minority shareholder rights.

The statement explained that the three founders and partners of Animal Ethics had the idea to improve animal welfare by reducing pain in farm animals during routine treatments such as castration, tail docking, debudding and dehorning, in multiple species.

Tri-Solfen has 35 patents granted across the majority of the world’s major animal health markets.

Its primary use and area for initial development and regulatory focus is in sheep, pigs and cattle; however, other opportunities have been identified in horses and companion animals.

The product has already been successfully registered for sheep in Australia and is marketed by a global animal health company with current annualised sales for this one application achieving AUD$4.0 million per annum.

The development process is underway to register the product in global markets, with initial focus being for pigs in Europe and pigs and cattle in the US; the first registrations are targeted for approval in 2020.

The global market potential is conservatively estimated to be AUD$350.0 million; however, with the increasing focus on the ethical treatment of farm animals, this target could be exceeded once multi-species approval is achieved in the major markets.

The reduced infection risk, improved wound healing and lower level of animal stress that result from Tri-Solfen use, combined with the low cost per dose, drives a strong economic case for market adoption.

Animal welfare is becoming a major commercial and political issue for livestock industries.

The statement said EU and US pig and cattle industries are now facing similar conflicts from welfare advocacy groups, consumer groups and retailers, with the consequential legislative pressure to ban procedures without the use of anaesthetic.

The European Commission is currently undertaking a review with a view to creating an industry welfare quality standard for utilisation on product labeling.

“Having been in dialogue with Animal Ethics for a number of years, I am delighted to have secured this long term relationship. Once approved for major markets, Tri-Solfen significantly strengthens our FAP portfolio, will further our geographical expansion strategy and will enhance Dechra’s reputation of providing clinically necessary, high quality, ethical veterinary pharmaceuticals,” Dechra’s Chief Executive Officer, Ian Page said.

Allan Giffard, Managing Director of Medical Ethics, said the investment by Dechra will accelerate Animal Ethics’ program to develop urgently needed pain relief products for livestock animals globally.

“The partnership creates a wonderful opportunity for our company to pursue its mission to develop and deliver products that alleviate pain and minimise suffering associated with wounds and surgical procedures in livestock, companion animals and to progress Medical Ethics’ opportunity in humans”.

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