![Rick DeLuca, president of MSD Animal Health.](https://image.landbasedaq.com/1794113.jpg?imageId=1794113&width=960&height=548&format=jpg)
MSD's plans after completing a millonaire acquisition
After the purchase of Elanco's aquaculture assets, the company is preparing for significant growth in markets such as Chile.
MSD Animal Health has announced the completion of its acquisition of the aquaculture business of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated.
Thus, MSD Animal Health, owned by the American pharmaceutical giant MSD (known as Merck & Co., Inc. in the United States and Canada), stated that the completion of the acquisition strengthens its position in the aquaculture industry with a comprehensive approach to promoting the health, wellbeing, and sustainability of fish in aquaculture, conservation, and fishing.
“With the completion of this acquisition, we are well positioned within the aquaculture industry with a solid and complete portfolio of products for warm water, cold water, vaccines, antiparasitic treatments, water supplements, and nutrition,” said Rick DeLuca, president of MSD Animal Health.
"We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues to MSD Animal Health and look forward to working together, driven by our common purpose: the science of healthier animals."
As a result of the acquisition, MSD Animal Health now owns products such as Clynav, a next-generation DNA-based vaccine that protects Atlantic salmon against pancreatic diseases, and Imvixa, a treatment for sea lice in feed with the active ingredient lufenuron, which inhibits chitin production and thus interferes with the development of the louse's exoskeleton.
The company also sells the anti-lice treatment Slice, which is applied in the feed and has emamectin benzoate as its active ingredient.
The acquisition of Elanco Animal Health also adds water treatment products for hot water production to MSD Animal Health's product list, complementing its vaccine portfolio.
Recently, Salmonexpert, a media partner of LandbasedAQ, reported that MSD Animal Health received permission from the National Economic Prosecutor's Office (FNE) to purchase Elanco's assets in Chile as part of the acquisition for US$1.3 billion.
The approval was given after the FNE analyzed the possible competitive effects on three products from each company: vaccines for the prevention of salmon rickettsial septicemia (Aquavac Saristin 2 from MSD and Renogen from Elanco); vaccines for the prevention of IPNV (Aquavac Saristin 2 from MSD and Pentium Forte Plus ILA from Elanco), and products in food used for the treatment of Caligus (Slice from MSD and Imvixa from Elanco).