Merck Animal Health to Acquire Worldwide Rights to Whisper® Veterinary Stethoscope System
April 19 2016 - 5:00PM
Business Wire
Non-Invasive Device Helps Diagnose Bovine
Respiratory Disease
Merck Animal Health (known as MSD Animal Health outside the
United States and Canada) today announced plans to acquire
worldwide rights for the Whisper® Veterinary Stethoscope System
from Minnesota-based Geissler Companies. The Whisper Veterinary
Stethoscope System is a Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) detection
system which is used to determine the severity of an animal’s lung
condition so that the appropriate treatment regimen can be started
to protect the health of the animal.
Bovine Respiratory Disease is the most common disease affecting
cattle in North America.1 This complex, multi-factorial infection
affects the upper and lower respiratory tracts and can often be
fatal, causing billions of dollars in economic losses for farmers.
Identifying the cause of the disease and appropriate treatment
pathways is vital to maintain an infected herd.
“We are pleased to add the Whisper Veterinary Stethoscope System
to our comprehensive portfolio of vaccines and pharmaceutical
products for the cattle industry,” said Rick DeLuca, president,
Merck Animal Health. “It is important to provide our customers with
the most innovative solutions available today that will meet their
needs to maintain healthy stock and advance animal well-being.”
“We are excited about Merck Animal Health acquiring this
technology,” said Randolph K. Geissler, CEO, Geissler Companies.
“We believe Merck Animal Health’s wide commercial reach and
expertise in Bovine Respiratory Disease will help bring the Whisper
Veterinary Stethoscope System to more producers, and will result in
improvements to animal health and well-being.”
The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
About the Whisper® Veterinary Stethoscope
System
The Whisper Veterinary Stethoscope System is a Bovine
Respiratory Disease (BRD) detection system which incorporates an
electronic stethoscope to capture a lung sound, then utilizes
computer-aided proprietary analytics to evaluate the severity of
the animal’s lung condition so that the appropriate treatment
regimen can be started.
Whisper is placed over the lungs of sick cattle and captures
sound frequencies, determining the condition of the lungs and
sending an objective score to a nearby computer. Using the Whisper
score, producers can detect BRD early, determine the severity of
the disease and select an appropriate treatment regimen, which may
help them improve lung-health related outcomes.
About Merck Animal Health
For 125 years, Merck (NYSE:MRK) has been a global health care
leader working to help the world be well. Merck Animal Health,
known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada, is
the global animal health business unit of Merck. Through its
commitment to the Science of Healthier Animals™, Merck Animal
Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments
one of the widest range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and
health management solutions and services. Merck Animal Health is
dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and
performance of animals. It invests extensively in dynamic and
comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain.
Merck Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its
products are available in some 150 markets. For more information,
visit www.merck-animal-health.com or connect with us on
LinkedIn and Twitter at @MerckAH.
Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc.,
Kenilworth, N.J., USA
This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J.,
USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are
based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s
management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.
There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline products that
the products will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or
that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying
assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize,
actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the
forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general
industry conditions and competition; general economic factors,
including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations;
the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care
legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends
toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new
products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent
in new product development, including obtaining regulatory
approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market
conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial
instability of international economies and sovereign risk;
dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other
protections for innovative products; and the exposure to
litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory
actions.
The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause
results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2015
Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s
Internet site (www.sec.gov).
1 D. Griffin: Economic impact associated with respiratory
disease in beef cattle. In: The Veterinary clinics of
North America. Food animal practice. Band 13, Number 3,
November 1997, ISSN 0749-0720, S. 367–377, PMID
9368983.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160419005544/en/
Merck Animal HealthAmy Firsching, 973-937-5453
Merck (NYSE:MRK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Merck (NYSE:MRK)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024