Intervet and Organon Deliver Again -- In Europe -- Chew-Tabs For Fleas & Ticks Receive Thumbs Up At EMA

It's been quite a while since I last expressed my deep and abiding respect -- for all the legacy scientists who labored under "Fast Fred" Hassan's "Emperor's New Clothes" regime (2004 to 2009). Chief among these were the acquired Organon animal health science teams -- largely out of the Netherlands. Legacy Schering-Plough acquired Organon, only to wildly mis-manage the extremely critical integration process (then dump the entire yard sale like process, on Merck). That is one of the central stories of this blog, laid out over perhaps 600 seperate posts. Just search "Organon" in the box above here -- and sort by date. "Merial" would be a good search term as well.

For that slowly-ending reign of terror, I am sorry. But this is a story of perserverance, even in the face of uncertainty about jobs, and various other executive-officer inflicted adversities. The science team from legacy Organon ought to take a victory lap, here -- as its fluralaner oral tablet (proposed to be branded as Bravecto^TM) for dogs is very near EU market introduction now. Well done!

Here's a bit of the EIN Newsdesk press release feed, out of Merck EU:

. . . .MSD Animal Health (known as Merck Animal Health in the United States and Canada) today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the veterinary medicinal product BRAVECTO™ (fluralaner) chewable tablets for dogs (112.5 mg, 250 mg, 500 mg, 1000 mg, 1400 mg).

The active substance of BRAVECTO, fluralaner, a new ectoparasiticide belonging to the isoxazoline group, is systemically active against fleas and ticks. The benefits of BRAVECTO are its efficacy in the treatment of flea and tick infestations in dogs. The most common side effects are mild and transient gastrointestinal effects. . . .

So many, many things that Fred Hassan has mismanaged, apparently with complete impunity (he's off doing the same now at B + L. Ugh.). So it goes. [Since one side effect of the tablet is intermittent gas -- perhaps any puppy dosed with Bravecto, and out on a walk near Mr. Hassan, ought to aim its hind-parts in Mr. Hassan's general direction!] Seriously, well done, again, all of you at MSD Animal Health!