CALF_News_June_July_2018

38 CALF News • June | July 2018 • www.calfnews.net BY PATTI WILSON CONTRIBUTING EDITOR H OW D O Y O U S P E L L R E L I E F ? Merck Releases Banamine ® Transdermal I n preparing this article, I met with Kevin Hill, DVM, a technical services veterinarian with Merck Animal Health. Hailing from Kaysville, Utah, Hill spent 27 years in private practice after graduating from Colorado State University in 1978. He joined Merck in 2005. Many thanks to Dr. Hill for his time spent in discussions with me at the 2018 Cattle Industry Convention. So, what’s the matter? The one setback to Banamine® injectable is the administra- tion route. It may say “injectable” on the label, but the subcu- taneous method is strictly USDA approved only for horses. Banamine can only be administered to cattle intravenously; intramuscular injection is not approved. Not only is it poten- tially painful, drug residue can remain in muscle tissue for up to six months. Fortunately, Merck has developed Banamine Transdermal – an alternate way to administer the pain reliever/fever reducer. Development and FDA approval for this first therapeutic pour-on took 10 years. It’s the only non-steroidal anti-inflam- matory (NSAID) cattle product available as a pour-on, and the first product ever licensed in the U.S. for the relief of pain in cattle. Sold as a prescription product that meets Beef Qual- ity Assurance (BQA) standards, it comes in a pre-calibrated bottle that makes administration simple and exact. As with many other pour-ons, it is applied in a narrow strip down the back. It’s important to note that the product has not yet been approved for dairy cows 20 months of age or older and pre- ruminating calves. Reproductive safety for breeding bulls has not been established. How did they do it? The FDA approval of any drug nowadays requires more metrics than ever before. Numbers generated over years mea- sure safety, efficacy and adequate withdrawal times. Environ- mental studies are often being included, making the process long and expensive. Pain relief poses one of the most serious dilemmas for livestock pharmaceutical companies. Since everything must now be measured, how do we measure pain in food animals that cannot verbally communicate with us? They can’t tell us whether their pain is a 10 or an 8 on a pain scale, leaving no way to measure drug efficacy. As a prime example, Banamine was originally not FDA-approved for pain relief in cattle, only control of fever and endotoxemia. Up to now, there has been only one FDA-licensed NSAID drug on the market that could (ELDU under AMDUCA