The European Commission has approved Zoetis Inc.’s new medicine Librela, a first-of-its-kind injectable monoclonal antibody formulated to alleviate osteoarthritis pain in dogs.
Librela contains bedinvetmab, which Zoetis said binds to nerve growth factor and “functions like naturally occurring antibodies, with minimal involvement of the liver or kidneys in its metabolism and elimination from the body.”
The quick-acting medicine is given once a month.
“After one injection of Librela, dogs with osteoarthritis exhibited increased mobility and decreased pain,” Zoetis reported, pointing to the results of a study.
The product release received a thumbs-up from Duncan Lascelles, BVSc, Ph.D., FRCVS, CertVA, DACVS, a professor of surgery and pain management at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
“The potential for anti-NGF therapy to control OA pain is an exciting new development, representing a new therapeutic class, an innovative tool for clinicians working to alleviate OA pain and a new medicinal innovation,” Dr. Lascelles said.
“Anti-NGF therapy could be the most exciting therapeutic advance in more than 20 years in veterinary medicine to control osteoarthritis-associated pain.”
Zoetis did not report whether it will seek U.S. approval of Librela.
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