Fort Dodge inks deal with Banfield to conduct field trials

Portland, Ore.-Banfield, The Pet Hospital has reached an agreement with Fort Dodge Animal Health to conduct a clinical field trial on newly approved canine Duramune Adult vaccine with three-year duration of immunity data for distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus (DHP).

This post-approval study is in addition to the safety and efficacy challenge studies submitted to the USDA for regulatory approval.

Hugh Lewis, BVMS, MRCVS, DACVP, Banfield's senior vice president of practice development, explains, "We, like many practices, have taken the position that a change in re-vaccination strategy from one to every three years should be dictated by scientific evidence of proven efficacy, with challenge studies, and should involve extensive testing in the field." Lewis says Banfield has had much experience evaluating the safety and efficacy of other Fort Dodge canine vaccines, having given approximately 2 million doses in the past 12 months.

The clinical field trial will take place in two stages at Banfield hospitals across the United States, using standard vaccination procedures. The first stage of the study will include 1,000 adult dogs that are due for their annual vaccination booster, with all adverse observations recorded. Results will be reported to Banfield's Medical Standards Board and Fort Dodge Animal Health. The company intends to publish the results for review by the rest of the profession.

Banfield's computerized medical database will facilitate the compilation and analysis of the results. The second stage will be a post-marketing surveillance study of the 1,000 vaccinated dogs from the first stage of the study. This stage will track the overall health of the dogs, and possibly the level of protection afforded by the vaccine over the following three years.

Banfield Chief Medical Officer Will Novak, DVM, MBA ABVP, said that after positive results of stage one of the clinical field study are available, Banfield is planning to introduce the new vaccine as the standard vaccine in its preventive care schedule.