OPKO Health has announced its entry into the animal health market. The OPKO animal health team will operate as a specialty business unit in cooperation with OPKO Spain, which is already in this business, and OPKO Ireland, which has been developing several oncology products for animals. The total U.S. pet product market is $60 billion of which more than $14 billion is for therapeutic products.
Cats and dogs are the most popular pet species with approximately 86 million cats and 78 million dogs in the United States and 99 million cats and 81 million dogs in Europe. An estimated 65% of households in the United States have at least one pet.
The role of pets in the family has evolved over time; owners now consider pets important members of the family. Pets are living longer and develop many of the problems of human aging, such as arthritis, cancer, obesity, kidney disease, diabetes and heart disease.
“OPKO is in a unique position to offer health care products for companion animals with minimal investment by utilizing its existing product and manufacturing resources,” said Phillip Frost, M.D., Chairman and CEO of OPKO Health.
“OPKO intends to leverage its proprietary technologies to develop novel therapeutics to treat serious medical conditions in pets. OPKO has been building its pipeline and plans to introduce several over-the-counter products in 1Q, 2017 and select prescription products, in 4Q, 2017. OPKO’s oncology products, developed with the support of OPKO Ireland, are meant to treat common cancers in pets; over 6 million dogs and 6 million cats are diagnosed with cancer in the United States annually,” continued Dr. Frost.
OPKO’s marketing team is developing a strategy to exploit the key differentiating features and benefits of its products. Working with key opinion leaders, OPKO has developed pet friendly formulations and packaging with specific labeling for different species. Products will be marketed through a logistics partner and select national and regional distributors. OPKO expects to sell to its customers, primary care veterinarians as well as specialists, who normally sell to pet owners.
OPKO’s management team, including executives from the successful DVM Pharmaceuticals division of IVAX Corporation, has the advantage of years of experience in successfully developing and marketing animal health products.