Livestock therapeutics specialist ECO Animal Health Group PLC (LON:EAH) confirmed that the staff and facilities of its Japanese subsidiary, Ecopharma, have not been affected by the recent earthquake.
Ecopharma, which is based in Tokyo, was purchased in December 2009 and the business delivered its maiden six months contribution to the first half of ECO Animal Health’s year to 31 March 2011.
Ecopharma has traded satisfactorily in the second half of the year and is expected to deliver a full year result in line with its budget.
Ecopharma is a major distributor in Japan of pharmaceutical products for animals including Aivlosin, ECO’s patented antibiotic treatment for pigs and poultry.
Accounting for almost 60 percent of ECO Animal Health’s sales, Aivlosin is a drug containing the animal antibiotic tylvalosin. It is rapidly absorbed by animals and concentrates in target tissues to provide control of major respiratory and enteric diseases in both pigs and poultry.
So far, it is licensed only for respiratory and enteric bacterial diseases in pigs and poultry, but the drug has potential to be used for other purposes.
Already the firm has seen strong sales of Aivlosin in Asian and Latin American markets, while its sales into Europe have been growing steadily. It expects organic growth to continue to come from markets such as China, Latin America and India.
ECO Animal Health also expects to get its first licences for Aivlosin from the US Food and Drug Administration later this year.