Loading AI tools
American animal health company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zoetis Inc. (/zō-EH-tis/[4]) is an American drug company, the world's largest producer of medicine and vaccinations for pets and livestock.[5][4][6] The company was a subsidiary of Pfizer,[7] the world's largest drug maker, but with Pfizer's spinoff of its 83% interest in the firm it is now a completely independent company. The company directly markets its products in approximately 45 countries, and sells them in more than 100 countries.[8] Operations outside the United States accounted for 50% of the total revenue.[5] Contemporaneous with the spinoff in June 2013 S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Zoetis would replace First Horizon National Corporation in the S&P 500 stock market index.[9]
| |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Pharmaceutical |
| Founded | 1952 |
| Headquarters | Parsippany, New Jersey, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Revenue |  US$8.54 billion (2023) |
| US$3.02 billion (2023) | |
| US$2.34 billion (2023) | |
| Total assets |  US$14.3 billion (2023) |
| Total equity | US$4.99 billion (2023) |
Number of employees | c. 14,100 (2023) |
| Website | zoetis |
| Footnotes / references [2][3] | |
In the 1950s, Pfizer began research on several drugs, including oxytetracycline, which was found to be effective in livestock.[10] In 1952, the Pfizer Agriculture Division opened a 732-acre research and development facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, called Vigo.[10][11] By 1988 the division was renamed Pfizer Animal Health.[10]
The 1995 acquisition of Norden Laboratories from GlaxoSmithKline expanded Pfizer's animal health division into small animal care, including domestic pets.[10] Secondary research and development centres were opened in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 2003.[10] In the same year, Pfizer acquired Pharmacia Corporation for US$60 billion in stock options.[12] Between 2007 and 2011, the company acquired Embrex Inc, Catapult Genetics, Bovigen, Wyeth, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Vetnex Animal Health Ltd, Synbiotics Corporation, Microtek, King Pharmaceuticals, and Alpharma.[10]
Plans to break away Pfizer Animal Health into a separate company were officially announced in 2012.[13][4] The new firm was named Zoetis in allusion to the Latin-derived zoological term zoetic, meaning "pertaining to life".[4][7]
Zoetis Inc.'s revenues exceeded $4.2 billion in 2011 and $4.34 billion in 2012.[14][15][4] The animal health industry worldwide is an estimated US$22 billion industry.[4]
On May 22, 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer planned to sell its majority stake in the company.[15] According to the report, shareholders will have the option to swap their Pfizer shares for Zoetis shares.[15] The sell-off of Zoetis is consistent with Pfizer's recent decision to shed other non-pharmaceuticals subsidiaries in an effort to save costs, raise capital, and pay off debt. The company has announced that JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs & Co., and Morgan Stanley will be the lead underwriters.[16][15]
In November 2014, activist investor Bill Ackman disclosed that Pershing Square Capital Management had taken an 8.5% stake in the company, amassing approximately 41.8 million shares, causing the share price to hit its highest price since the IPO.[17] On 17 November, the company announced it would acquire a portfolio of pet drugs from Abbott Laboratories for approximately $255 million.[18]
Records show that Pfizer officially filed for registration of a Class A stock with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on August 10, 2012.[10][19] Zoetis' IPO on February 1, 2013 sold 86.1 million shares for US$ 2.2 billion.[20] Shares sharply rose 19% by the end of the trading day to $35.01 a share, up from $26.[4] At the time, it was the largest IPO from a U.S. company since Facebook's $16 billion IPO on May 18, 2012.[21] Pfizer retained 414 million Class B shares giving it an 83% controlling stake in the firm.[22][3] Stock investors were attracted to the steep profit margin in proportion to revenue and consumer confidence in potential future growth of the subsidiary.[4] The offering's lead underwriters were JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.[20] Most of the money raised through the IPO was used to pay off existing Pfizer debt.[4]
In November 2015, the company announced it would acquire a developer of aquaculture treatments and diseases, Pharmaq, for $765 million.[23][24] In 2017, Zoetis acquired Ireland-based Nexvet, a company with a biologics focused technology and product candidate pipeline.[25] In the same year, the company also acquired KL Automation, a robotics company.[8]
In May 2018, the company announced its intention to acquire Abaxis for $1.9 billion in cash.[26][27]
In August 2021, Zoetis announced it would buy Jurox, increasing the business' presence in New Zealand, the US, Canada and the UK.[28] In June 2022, Zoetis acquired Basepaws, a privately held genetics company.[29]
In September 2023, Zoetis acquired Petmedix, a privately held Cambridge, UK-based company, to bring the benefits of species-specific antibody therapies to pet owners.[30][31]
Twenty-eight sites in 11 countries make up Zoetis manufacturing network, each facility designed to meet chemical and infectious agent safety regulatory requirements. Many R&D operations are co-located with manufacturing sites, a collaboration that allows bringing new products to market faster. Zoetis builds on six-decade Pfizer history and aims for high-tech innovative manufacturing technologies. Zoetis products include:[32][33]
In 2021 Zoetis established the Zoetis Foundation, a non-profit entity aimed at supporting communities and individual who care for animals with a goal of distributing $35 million in grants by the end of 2025. So far, the Foundation has distributed approximately $14.7 million in grants across 2021-2023.[38] The grants have been allocated towards causes including advancing opportunities for veterinary professionals[39][40][41] and farmers,[42] providing support to those affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, matching gifts programs, and delivering relief to those impacted by the earthquake in the Republic of Türkiye.[38]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
