Merial Acquires Newport Laboratories

FRANCE & US – Merial, the Animal Health division of Sanofi, has announced that it has acquired Newport Laboratories, a privately held company based in Worthington, Minnesota, and a leader in autogenous vaccines with a focus on swine and bovine production markets.
calendar icon 4 April 2012
clock icon 2 minute read

Jose Barella, Chief Executive Officer of Merial, explained: “Newport has demonstrated over time the ability to screen field samples and produce autogenous vaccines from large integrated producers with remarkable efficiency. The combination of Newport’s expertise and Merial’s strength in technology and geographic footprint will reinforce our exposure to the swine market segment and illustrates our strategy to expand our position in treatments for production animals.”

Newport Laboratories’ cutting edge molecular diagnostic technology assists in identifying pathogens, and their novel manufacturing technologies are used to produce quality ‘PINPOINT’ evidence-based – autogenous – vaccines, offering veterinarians and producers alternative methods to help prevent diseases in food animals. Due to this specific positioning, Newport has developed a unique relationship in the US with swine producers.

Merial has been a long-standing leader in vaccine technology with recombinant-vectored vaccines for large animals and pets, the first non-adjuvanted feline vaccine line, and oral rabies vaccines for wildlife. In addition, Merial developed the first therapeutic vaccine for cancer in dogs with xenogeneic plasmid DNA vaccine technology.

Dr Randy Simonson, Chief Operating Officer, Newport Laboratories commented: “Joining forces with Merial allows us to expand our expertise in the market and enhance the profitability of our customers through solution-based animal healthcare offerings. We will also be able to reach untapped markets in the US, and eventually, even bring our expertise to the rest of the world.”

This acquisition will enable Merial to expand its production animal business in the US and optimize Merial’s product technology with Newport’s demand realization expertise, thus providing a unique opportunity to meet the needs of US swine producers. Newport Laboratories will continue to operate from its Worthington site and maintain its high level of service to its customers.

Founded in 1994, Newport Laboratories assists veterinarians and livestock producers in their efforts to address animal health problems through diagnostic testing and production of veterinary biologics. Newport Laboratories is the United States leading manufacturer of autogenous biologics. Autogenous vaccines are developed and produced from a virus or bacteria strain that has been isolated from the tissue samples submitted from a particular farm, offering veterinarians and producers alternative methods to help prevent diseases in food animals. From this established service model approach, Newport has begun its expansion into the arena of commercial vaccines with the launch in 2010 of its first commercial swine vaccine for Haemophilus parasuis (ParaSail®).

© 2000 - 2024 - Global Ag Media. All Rights Reserved | No part of this site may be reproduced without permission.