Veterinary medicine looking increasingly to human drugs to supplement treatment pipelines
Significant unmet needs within veterinary care are driving veterinarians to treat animals such as dogs, cats and horses by prescribing drugs intended for human use.
Significant unmet needs within veterinary care, including a lack of drugs for senior animals, underdeveloped research in areas such as veterinary oncology, and a scarcity of novel drugs, diagnostic aids, treatment monitoring, and vaccines, are driving veterinarians to treat animals such as dogs, cats and horses by prescribing drugs intended for human use, according to business intelligence provider GBI Research.
The company’s latest report — Human Drugs For Veterinary Use – Current Trends and Future Commercial Prospects for Crossover Drugs — states that the most significant drivers of Extralabel Drug Use (ELDU) in animals are financial. Unlike the human drugs market, veterinary clinics are involved not only in diagnosis and treatment, but also have the right to dispense pet medications. Consumers cannot purchase the prescribed medications from a pharmacy of their choice, where there would be access to low-priced generic drugs, and human treatments may be a viable alternative.
Deekshita Allavarapu, Analyst for GBI Research, says: “A blockbuster drug in human health generates revenues in excess of $1 billion, whereas the animal health market’s highest selling drugs achieve $50–100 million, with around 85% of animal sales reaching less than $1 million. In this way, many manufacturers of veterinary drugs are looking for products already licensed for human use to fill their pipelines.”
Despite these drivers, there are safety, legal, ethical, and health issues associated with ELDU in animals. For instance, prescribing a human drug for veterinary use has its own risks. Mammalian species share many basic similarities in terms of responses to drugs, but there are differences seen at the cellular level, meaning responses may differ.
Another possibility might be that a human drug is prescribed despite the presence of a veterinary-approved alternative due to affordability issues, meaning a veterinarian could face legal issues.
Allavarapu concludes: “Despite such problems, the intersection between human and veterinary medicine is a very important and emerging area that GBI Research believes will receive more focus in the years to come. For example, specially designed clinical trials are currently being run in which pets can be enrolled alongside human patients.”
Related News
-
News Patients vs Pharma – who will the Inflation Reduction Act affect the most?
The Inflation Reduction Act brought in by the Biden administration in 2022 aims to give better and more equitable access to healthcare in the USA. However, pharma companies are now concerned about the other potential costs of such legislation. -
News CPHI Podcast Series: What does the changing US Pharma market mean for industry and patients alike?
In this week's episode of the CPHI Podcast Series Lucy Chard, Digital Editor for CPHI Online is joined by James Manser to discuss the political and market changes in the US pharma field. -
News CPHI Barcelona Annual Report illuminates industry trends for 2024
The CPHI Annual Survey comes into it’s 7th year to report on the predicted trends for 2024. Over 250 pharma executives were asked 35 questions, with their answers informing the industry landscape for the next year, spanning all major pharma marke... -
News Which 10 drugs are open to price negotiation with Medicare in the USA?
The Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services, under the Biden administration in the USA, has released a list of the 10 drugs that will be open to price negotiations as part of the new legislation under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). -
News EU Medical Devices Regulation causes unintended disappearances of medical devices for children, doctors state
Doctor groups and associations have appealed to the EU to correct the EU Medical Devices Regulation law that may cause unintended shortages of essential drug and medical devices for children and rare disease patients. -
News 10 Major Drug Approvals So Far in 2023
Last year, 37 novel drugs were approved by the FDA, this was a high number for such a category, and covered many fields including oncology, demonstrating how promising further research is, and how it is only continuing to build. To date, there are alre... -
News Detecting Alzheimer's disease with a simple lateral flow test
A novel rapid diagnostic test for early-stage Alzheimer's disease has been developed using a biomarker binder from Aptamer Group along with technology from Neuro-Bio, the neurodegenerative disease experts. -
News CPHI Podcast Series: outsourcing and manufacturing trends
Listen to the CPHI Podcast Series this June to hear Gil Roth of the PBOA speak with Digital Editor Lucy Chard about the biggest trends and topics to watch in pharma outsourcing and manufacturing at the minute.
Position your company at the heart of the global Pharma industry with a CPHI Online membership
-
Your products and solutions visible to thousands of visitors within the largest Pharma marketplace
-
Generate high-quality, engaged leads for your business, all year round
-
Promote your business as the industry’s thought-leader by hosting your reports, brochures and videos within your profile
-
Your company’s profile boosted at all participating CPHI events
-
An easy-to-use platform with a detailed dashboard showing your leads and performance