by Sarah Schmidt
September 19, 2017
Two companies – based on opposite sides of the country, but in cities bearing the same name – are trying to disrupt how pet owners receive their pet medications. At the same time, they claim, they are looking to increase patient compliance and veterinary revenue.
As Packaged Facts discussess in the report Pet Medications in the U.S., 5th Edition, both companies – VetSource of Portland, Oregon and Vets First Choice of Portland, Maine – run online home delivery services for veterinarians.
VetSource, counts VCA, Inc. as a shareholder. In VCA’s 2016 10-K, the company revealed it owned 39.3% of the outstanding preferred stock of VetSource. (Mars Petcare’s acquisition of VCA is still awaiting regulatory approval). VetSource also has partnerships with the industry’s biggest veterinary distributors, including Henry Schein, Patterson, MWI and Merritt.
Vets First Choice, meanwhile has received some serious private equity backing. The company announced in July that it had secured a $223 million round of funding, led by investment firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and Hillhouse Capital Group. Outside funding now totals $285.8 million.
By giving veterinarians an option to sell pet medications online, these companies are offering veterinarians a way to keep the revenue from going to a retail pharmacy or online retailer. And, according to VetSource, it helps with patient compliance too. As reported by Veterinary Advantage in February: “The results were clear: Home delivery customers were 140 percent more compliant with parasiticides, brought $212 more per year per patient in total annual revenue, and drove 93 percent more profit in parasiticides.”
Sounds like the kind of story, if true, that the veterinary industry would consider the best of times.
Find more information about Pet Medications in the U.S., 5th Edition, including purchase options, the abstract, table of contents, and related reports at Packaged Facts’ website: https://www.packagedfacts.com/Pet-Medications-Edition-11058305/.
-- by George Puro, market research analyst
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