UK Edition
Dechra plans pain relief product for piglets, lambs and calves
A Chesire-based pharmaceutical company is set to launch a pain relief medication for piglets, lambs and calves that promises to significantly improve welfare for these animals.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals, a FTSE 250 company that is worth just over £3bn, will launch Tri-Solfen in the UK and Europe and then the rest of the world in the next 18 months.
It is a gel that contains both a short-acting and a long-acting anaesthetic, adrenaline to stop blood flow and an anti-infective to promote healing and create a protective barrier against infection. It is inexpensive and easy to use as it can be sprayed on to a wound by farmers without the help of a vet.
“It’s a very simple idea but hugely effective,” said Ian Page, chief executive of Dechra. “There are injectable pain killers and some other topical anaesthetics, but nothing specifically developed for animals. The bizarre thing about this is that for many years I don’t think we realised how painful these procedures are to animals and now animal welfare is becoming more and more important.”
Dechra is applying for regulatory approval to launch Tri-Solfen in four instances: during castration for piglets (male pigs have their testicles removed to prevent their meat from developing a flavour known as “boar taint”); in lambs when they have their tails docked; in calves when they have their horns removed; and in sheep when they have the skin removed below the anus to stop blowflies from infecting them.
The treatment has been used in Australia and New Zealand for years, but it has never been registered elsewhere, partly because it’s difficult to get a medical product with more than one active ingredient approved.
More than 80m sheep and cattle in Australia and New Zealand have benefitted from Tri-Solfen, with nearly three-quarters of sheep now regularly treated with it when their tails are docked.
“This will massively improve animal welfare in Europe and the rest of the world and the market opportunity is huge for us,” said Mr Page.
“Germany was going to make piglet castration pain relief compulsory from 2019, but had to pull back the legislation as there was no affordable solution on the market. This is a very affordable, easy solution.”
Tri-Solfen is owned by a company called Medical Ethics, in which Dechra has a 48pc stake. It owns the marketing rights for Tri-Solfen outside Australia and New Zealand.
Annual sales of the product could eventually be in the tens of millions of pounds, Mr Page added.
Shares in Dechra started the year at just under £21 and closed on Friday at £30.36.