August 29, 2007

Novartis new anthelmintic promises breakthrough against parasites

Novartis Animal Health presented promising data on what is potentially the first new livestock anthelmintic class in 25 years, offering new hopes for farmers struggling with the devastating economic effects of parasitic worms in livestock.

Novartis claims the data -- which has been presented during last week's World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) -- has already been recognised by experts as a potentially significant step forward, with the potential to significantly improve parasite management in livestock.

Dr Ronald Kaminsky, the Novartis parasitologist presenting the data at WAAVP said as anthelmintic resistance is raising concerns globally, existing treatments against parasite has become less effective and potentially threaten the viability of livestock farming. Anthelmintic are drugs that expel parasitic worms in the body by either killing or stunning them.

He said the livestock industry under significant pressure from changes in global farming patterns and financial pressures and many farmers find the anthelmintic as the final straw.

Dr. Frank Jackson of the Moredun Institute in Penicuik, UK, spoke of the impact of nematodes in livestock. He said gastro-intestinal nematodes in sheep have been estimated to cost the Australian sheep industry approximately US$2.85 billion/2 billion euros per year globally. The situation may be even worse in cattle, he added as estimates of the global costs of gastro-intestinal parasitism vary from nearly US$1.5 billion annually to more than US$55 billion annually. He warns that the increasing reports of resistance every year may prompt the situation to get worse, making it harder for farmers to continue to farm profitably.

Other experts stressed the need for new treatments for this problem. According to Professor Dr Jozef Vercruysse from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Universiteit Gent, Ghent, Belgium said Novartis' new class "sounds very promising", and "could prove to be a real lifeline for those farmers experiencing problems with resistant worms."