Current state of affairs One vet's opinion

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Anonymous said:
Introducing FiproGUARD™ and FiproGUARD™ PLUS – the first retail generic equivalent to Frontline® and Frontline Plus® for dogs and cats. FiproGUARD™ and FiproGUARD PLUS™ contain the active ingredients used in Frontline® and Frontline Plus®.*Available approximately 4/15/2011. Pre-order to ensure quick delivery.**
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Available March 1st, wait no, March 15th, wait, April 1st, oh good it will be here April 15th. If history repeats itself.....just saying.
 


















Anonymous said:
I'm a veterinarian and in my more than 30 years in practice I have watched the flea control market evolve. Most of my clients use Frontline Plus, and most of those purchase it from me. But that is changing and is getting ready to turn upside down. I can compete with the pet stores, they charge $20 per dose. We price ours a little below PetMeds both in hospital and through our web store. Costco is problematic, they are satisfied with a 4% margin, difficult to compete with that. But most clients understand that we can't compete with Costco. The real nail in the coffin will be a generic equivalent available in stores at a lower cost than I can purchase the brand name from the manufacturer.

Unlike some of my colleagues I don't blame Merial. As long as it isn't illegal, EPA products are going to go otc. No way to stop it. No amount of tracking will stop it. It's the nature of the beast. It doesn't really matter to me if it is diverted or sold directly to the store. The effect on my practice is the same. The only company that has been disingenuous about it was Bayer. I called them a few weeks before they went public about selling their products direct to the pet stores and was told it was to "get a handle on the diversion problem." That's like screwing someone to get a handle on the pregnancy problem.

In the short term I think veterinarians need to stick with FDA products and let the pet stores fight over the EPA market. Would I be interested in yet another EPA product like Vectra? No thanks. Reminds me of Hill's who has brought out several "veterinary exclusive" wellness pet foods. If sales don't boom they discontinue it, if we successfully build a market for the product they take it otc and sell it to pet stores at a price not available to veterinarians. I'm not interested in playing that game.

Ultimately I think dispensing will be taken away from veterinarians altogether. I remember when many MD's had their own little pharmacy in their office, one stop shopping. The auto shop that did state inspections also did the repairs. No more, gone because of the perceived conflict of interest. Reminds me of a comment made to me by a retiring veterinarian on my first day on the job, only half in jest, "If you don't have the drugs to treat what you've diagnosed, diagnose something you do have the drugs to treat."
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I wish all doctors thought like you.
 






























Anonymous said:
Youre exactly right doctor. Dont try to compete with otc when there are good products out there only sold through vets. Vectra has done a nice job so far. Have you checked out comfortis or trifexis yet? FDA, and does a great job.
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Zero interest in Vectra -- don't pet stores cary the same product under their store label? We use Comfortis and clients have been very pleased with the product. We do warn them about the potential for vomiting, only one client has returned Comfortis so far because of vomiting, turns out the dog vomited once one week after administration, not the fault of the product.

One niche for Comfortis -- clients who come in complaining of a perceived lack of efficacy of their current topical product (Frontline in our practice) come back (unsolicited) to tell us how pleased they are with Comfortis.
 






Anonymous said:
Zero interest in Vectra -- don't pet stores cary the same product under their store label? We use Comfortis and clients have been very pleased with the product. We do warn them about the potential for vomiting, only one client has returned Comfortis so far because of vomiting, turns out the dog vomited once one week after administration, not the fault of the product.

One niche for Comfortis -- clients who come in complaining of a perceived lack of efficacy of their current topical product (Frontline in our practice) come back (unsolicited) to tell us how pleased they are with Comfortis.
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Thanks Mrs. Lilly
 






Introducing FiproGUARD™ and FiproGUARD™ PLUS – the first retail generic equivalent to Frontline® and Frontline Plus® for dogs and cats. FiproGUARD™ and FiproGUARD PLUS™ contain the active ingredients used in Frontline® and Frontline Plus®.*Available approximately 4/15/2011. Pre-order to ensure quick delivery.**
 












NOBODY believes any of these posts come from DVMs....nobldy. Dream on, Pharm reps....nobody cares. Bad news all the way around when it comes to generics.

Thank you, all of you companies, for entering into the flea cash cow 15 years AFTER Bayer and Merial made it a multi billion dollar category. Thank you for waiting until you were sure you could swim in the lake....matter of fact, Bayer and Merial have made the lake so lucurative, ANYBODY could swim in it and survive. And anybody does...Elanco, Novartis, Summit/Cebia/whoever-buys-them-next. Brave, brave, innovative companies. Always ready to "save" the vet. Hope some of THOSE "DOCTORS"(especially those who navvigate THIS website for info. NOT) are savy enough to realize just how Elanco, Novartis, Summit, etc only appeared AFTER all the markets were developed. Hope these guys are arround to help when the industry needs research dollars for stuff like cancer....well, Novartis will be. Elanco and Summit???? Give me a break!!!! Just what every clinic needs: ANOTHER heartworm preventative!! That does WHAT?? Prevents heartworm disease! How novel!! AND another flea/tick product!! That does WHAT?? Prevents fleas and ticks!!! Wow, I can't get over just how helpful that will be to the industry!! Hope these companies come out with an NSAID soon....sure could use ANOTHER one. Or maybe just a pill that prevents heartworm, fleas and pain.

And "Doctor", if you really, really, really want to be a drug rep so bad, APPLY.
 












Introducing FiproGUARD™ and FiproGUARD™ PLUS – the first retail generic equivalent to Frontline® and Frontline Plus® for dogs and cats. FiproGUARD™ and FiproGUARD PLUS™ contain the active ingredients used in Frontline® and Frontline Plus®.*Available approximately 4/15/2011. Pre-order to ensure quick delivery.**
 






Anonymous said:
NOBODY believes any of these posts come from DVMs....nobldy. Dream on, Pharm reps....nobody cares. Bad news all the way around when it comes to generics.

Thank you, all of you companies, for entering into the flea cash cow 15 years AFTER Bayer and Merial made it a multi billion dollar category. Thank you for waiting until you were sure you could swim in the lake....matter of fact, Bayer and Merial have made the lake so lucurative, ANYBODY could swim in it and survive. And anybody does...Elanco, Novartis, Summit/Cebia/whoever-buys-them-next. Brave, brave, innovative companies. Always ready to "save" the vet. Hope some of THOSE "DOCTORS"(especially those who navvigate THIS website for info. NOT) are savy enough to realize just how Elanco, Novartis, Summit, etc only appeared AFTER all the markets were developed. Hope these guys are arround to help when the industry needs research dollars for stuff like cancer....well, Novartis will be. Elanco and Summit???? Give me a break!!!! Just what every clinic needs: ANOTHER heartworm preventative!! That does WHAT?? Prevents heartworm disease! How novel!! AND another flea/tick product!! That does WHAT?? Prevents fleas and ticks!!! Wow, I can't get over just how helpful that will be to the industry!! Hope these companies come out with an NSAID soon....sure could use ANOTHER one. Or maybe just a pill that prevents heartworm, fleas and pain.

And "Doctor", if you really, really, really want to be a drug rep so bad, APPLY.
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SO TRUE! well said. I agree. whats great is these vets that are supporting these knockoff companies and then will be complaining years down the road when there is no support or funding for research for innovative products. preach on!
 






Anonymous said:
SO TRUE! well said. I agree. whats great is these vets that are supporting these knockoff companies and then will be complaining years down the road when there is no support or funding for research for innovative products. preach on!
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Oh please!!! Where do we live again? Communist Russia? China? Do you think you are the only company that has ever dealt with competition from a generic? Last I saw, Tide still did pretty well despite 20 other brands on the shelf. Campbell soup is still around even with the 10 cent soup right next to it. And guess what??? They even manage to bring around a few new soups every year!! Tylenol has been through recalls and generics that should have brought them down years ago, but guess what? Still the number one NSAID on the shelf. I was not around when Ford developed the automobile but I wonder if that company pissed and moaned about "creating the market and teaching people how to drive" when Chevy came out with their first vehicle?
So, grow up and get over yourself! Merial is a tiny company with a freakin flea product! They are not exactly curing cancer or saving the world! Competition is a good thing as it keeps companies like Merial in the game and working hard to create the next best thing which is exactly what our consumers want and deserve! And if they cannot, then move over so someone else can.
 












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