Dechra Veterinary Products has acquired the distribution rights to Zimeta, the first FDA-approved drug for the control of pyrexia in horses.
Zimeta (dipyrone injection) was developed by Kindred Biosciences Inc. and earned the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine in November 2019.
Dechra received the exclusive marketing, sales and distribution rights to Zimeta. Terms of the agreement with KindredBio were not announced.
“Dechra’s equine sales team is excited to launch Zimeta and provide veterinarians with a novel product to help control fevers in horses,” said Mike Eldred, the company’s president of North American operations.
Dipyrone, the drug’s active ingredient, is a member of the pyrazolone class of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and “has a centrally acting mechanism of action on the hypothalamus, where fever originates and is regulated,” according to Dechra.
Zimeta is KindredBio’s second FDA-approved drug. The first, the feline weight-management medication Mirataz (mirtazapine transdermal ointment), was sold to Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC for $43 million in March 2020.
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