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Veterinary Market

Global ex-manufacturer sales of animal health products is estimated to be approxiamtely $40 billion dollars.

The Veterinary Market: The animal health market is comprised of various sectors in which products and services are sold, including livestock, pet retail, and companion animal areas.  Generally, the animal health market can be categorized based on species (companion animal market, food production animal market, exotic animals) and types of products (veterinary drugs, veterinary biologics, flea and tick products)
Species: Companion Animal (dog, cat and horse), Food Production Animal (cattle, poultry, etc.), Exotics (zoo animals, avian, etc.), or Aquatic (fish and aquaculture).
Veterinary Product Type: Veterinary Pharmaceuticals (drugs), Veterinary Biologics (vaccines, immune stimulants, diagnostics), Veterinary Ectoparasitics (topical flea and tick products), Veterinary Nutraceuticals (bioactives and natural products), Animal Feeds (animal food), or Biosecurity (premise control, disinfectants, etc.).

Link to Animal Health Institute

veterinary market

Each of these veterinary market categorizations have varying economic factors to consider when developing animal health products.   Woods Consulting, LLC can assist clients in assessing technology development by the appropriate species, target disease, and market which takes into consideration the animal health and veterinary regulations and animal health market economics. 

Approval Timeline for Veterinary Products: As a rule of thumb, most veterinary drugs and biologics for companion animal use can take 3-5 years to obtain veterinary market approval. For livestock, veterinary drugs may take even longer as approvals for food production animals also requires residue testing and other studies to evaluate the veterinary drugs potential effects in the food chain.

Major Companion Animal Veterinary Market Categories: In companion animal medicine, major veterinary markets consist of veterinary vaccines, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, deworming agents, flea and tick products, heartworm preventatives, etc.

Major Food Production Animal Veterinary Market Categories: In Food Production Animal medicine, such as poultry, beef production, dairy, and swine, the major veterinary market categories are designed to increase feed efficiency (feed additives) and reduce or prevent diseases (antibiotics, vaccines, etc.). Respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases are among the most common, including mastitis for dairy production.

Key Therapeutic Categories:
medicinal feed additives, biologics, parasiticides, anti-infectives, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Estimated % of Global Sales of Veterinary Products: 
Veterinary Drugs – 62%       Veterinary Biologics – 26%       Feed Additives – 12%

Estimated Global Product Sales by Region:
Americas – 47%     Europe – 31%      ROW – 22%

General breakdown of US veterinarians by employment sector: 
Companion Animal ~ 68,000; Mixed Animal ~ 4,600; Food Animal ~3,500; Industry ~3,000

Estimated companion animal ownership in US:
 ~80 million dogs; ~90 million cats; ~7 million horses