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Testimonials

Since Tri-Solfen® was commercially launched, over 150 million lambs have been treated and over 80% of Australian wool growers are now using Tri-Solfen for their sheep. Here’s what some of them have to say…

‘We have used pain relief for two years now and seen real production gains. We are concerned for the welfare of our animals and will continue to use pain relief to ensure they get the best care.’

Clinton Wise– Wililoo Merino Stud, Woodanilling, W.A.

'It easy to see the difference pain relief makes. Before, lambs would walk away hunched up, even taking a couple of hours to walk back to the paddock. Now they run straight back to Mum and start suckling,” says Rod. “My wool is now sold under the Better Choices brand. I see this as a definite advantage. I think it will be an advantage in the long run, to both me and the industry as a whole.'

Rod Miller– Glenpaen Merino Stud, Horsham, Vic

'After being treated with pain relief my lambs were more content and less stressed. As farmers we are sincere in looking after the welfare of our animals and using pain relief demonstrates this.'

Richard Coole– Frankland, W.A.

'We have been using pain relief for the past three years. We’re impressed by reduced bleeding in the mulesing wound immediately after application. Lambs run straight back to find the ewe, which has dramatically reduced our mortality rates. Flock management, post lamb marking is easier due to the effect of pain relief and the scab healing faster.'

Ryan & Malcom O’Dea– Peepingee Merino Stud, Narrogin, W.A.

'Using pain relief eases the stress and allows lambs to mother up and move back to the paddock easier with faster weight gains.'

Kent Lummis– Waverley Downs, Gilgandra, NSW

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Patent Portfolio

Country Species Patent
Australia Sheep Granted
Australia Horses, Dogs, Lab animals Granted
Australia Cattle Granted
Australia Humans Granted
New
Zealand
Sheep,
Cattle
Granted
New
Zealand
Horses, Dogs, Lab animals Granted
EU Humans Granted
EU Pig, Sheep,
Cattle
Granted
USA Dogs, Horses, Lab animals Granted
USA Humans Granted
USA Pig, Sheep,
Cattle
Granted
Canada Horses, Dogs, Lab animals Granted
Canada Cattle,
Pig
Granted
Canada Humans Granted

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Advisory Board

Ian Page

Non-Executive Director

Ian is Chief Executive Officer of Dechra Pharmaceuticals, which has a 33% shareholder in Medical Ethics. He joined National Veterinary Services, Dechra’s former services business in 1989 and joined the Board of Dechra in 1997. In October 2010, Ian was appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of Sanford DeLand Asset Management.

Dr Chris Roberts

Human Wound and Regulatory Advisor

Chris has over 20 years’ line management experience of heading clinical research teams. He was previously global head of Smith & Nephew clinical support and market development, where he managed global clinical Phase II and III programmes in the management of venous and pressure ulcers.

Lieutenant Colonel Professor Steven Jeffery

Medical Specialist Advisor

Steve has over 15 years’ experience in military plastic surgery. In 2011 he was awarded the Military Civilian Partnership Award for ‘Regular of the Year’, as well as receiving the Wounds UK ‘Key Contribution’ award and the Smith and Nephew ‘Customer Pioneer of the Year’ award. He has also been awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England ad eundum. He is an expert adviser to NICE Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme. Steve co-founded the Woundcare 4 Heroes charity, which is already making a big difference to the wound care of both serving and veteran personnel.

Dr Matthew Bayfield

Medical Specialist Scientific Director

Dr Matthew Bayfield, Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Strathfield Private Hospital and VMO Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Professor Peter Windsor

Veterinarian Research Advisor

Peter is a registered specialist veterinary surgeon in New South Wales and an emeritus Professor at Sydney University. He holds a BVSc (Hons), PhD, DVSc and diploma from the European College of Small Ruminant Health Management.

Dr Julian Braidwood

Global Regulatory Affairs Advisor

Julian has held leadership roles and managed international clinical projects with Grampian. He was previously Regulatory Affairs Manager at Novartis Animal Health. He is the Founder and Managing Director of Triveritas, where he is responsible for a team of 40 animal health specialists across the EU and the US.

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Early castration improves animal’s health

February 28, 2014

QUALITY MATTERS – Gant Mourer, Oklahoma State University’s Beef Value Enhancement Specialist  Drovers CattleNetwork

No matter what business you’re in, quality brings value to your product. It’s no different in the beef industry except the definition of quality may differ slightly from producer to producer or segment to segment. Calves that have the genetic potential to gain and gain efficiently would by most be considered the second most important trait a calf can have from a commercial producer’s standpoint. The most important trait being, that a calf is healthy and maybe more specifically alive. Producers have the resources and information available to make genetic decisions to meet any environmental or market demands they choose. Many producers have also spent years selecting for their genetics but if they don’t manage calves well in the short term it will be all for not and quality will then be lacking.

If a calf does not remain healthy it will never reach its genetic potential. The most critical point in life of that calf is at weaning and how that calf is handled at that time.  Bovine Respiratory Disease is the #1 production problem costing the beef industry over $900 million dollars annually (Chirase and Greene, 2001). The fact of the matter is that we have the ability to do something about it. When we compare cattle that we do not know the vaccination history to cattle that have been Vac-45 verified the morbidity of those cattle goes from 41.9% to 9.5% and mortality is reduced from 3.1% to effectively 0%, respectively (Step et al. 2008). While, the 2007 survey of cow/calf producers from the National Animal Health Monitoring System shows that over 60% of operations don’t vaccinate for respiratory disease prior to shipment.

Castration is important to the health of the calf as well and stress can be minimized for that calf if castration is done young and while still on the ranch. Calves that have been castrated prior to entry into feedlots and backgrounding yards typically perform better and experience lower morbidity and mortality rates as compared to bulls castrated upon arrival (Massey et al., 2011). We see a 8-10$/cwt discount for bulls in livestock markets do to the fact that the breakeven in feedlots is about 6% less for 6 weight steers that went through a preconditioning program prior to arrival (Maxwell et al., 2012).

These management practices coupled with good nutrition and parasite control on the ranch can keep a calf gaining and adding value. This last fall, the value of added gain was up over a dollar in many instances and with a decrease in feed values, preconditioning was able to increase the value of a calf from 50-100$/hd depending on the program and how long a producer retained ownership.