The incentives that companies use to help develop new antibiotics for food animals are coming under pressure. A USDA research economist said those incentives are being pressured by high development costs, changing markets, and shifting consumer trends.
Sales in antibiotics in both the U.S. and Europe are dropping, and incentives for companies that manufacture new branded or generic products are slipping as well. So what does recent USDA research show concerning the impacts of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) on sales of animal antibiotics?
Rod Bain has a story to answer that question, along with looking at whats happened to the animal antibiotic industry and its sales since the 2017 implementation of the VFD.