The impact has been slight since the August 2002 release of a study that suggested menopausal women curtail their use of hormone replacement therapy.
Theodora Samiotias, of pharmaceutical maker Wyeth Ayerst, said the decline in use of its HRT product Premarin is only 11 percent. That represents the dip in the number of Canadian prescriptions in the past six months.
Premarin is made from pregnant mare’s urine, which is collected by ranchers in the Canadian Prairies and North Dakota.
After the American study warned against HRT because of an increased risk for heart disease, there was uncertainty among women taking the therapy and the ranchers who supply the main ingredient.
Read Also
Volunteers help exotic animal farm rebuild
Exotic animal farm loses beloved camel and pony to huge hail storm that gripped the Brooks, Alta. area as a community member starts a fundraiser to help the family recover from the financial and emotional damage.
But that question appears to be settled.
Samiotias said the company is committed to HRT and signed a contract with the ranchers’ negotiating group, the North American Equine Ranching Information Council. Wyeth Ayerst is the sole buyer and processor of PMU in North America.
Council executive director Norm Luba said farmer contracts for 2002-03 were not only maintained but also had small increases in price and volume.
“I’ve got no indication that anything will change for next year.”
He said some council members were worried about what was going to happen to their industry.
“We were waiting to see the medical response.”
The council represents 420 ranchers, 398 of them on the Canadian Prairies. Luba said the estrogen product derived from PMU has been around since the 1960s and “some guys have retired” after a successful career in providing the key ingredient.
There is a waiting list of people who want to join the PMU business. When considering prospective ranchers, Luba said Wyeth Pharmaceuticals of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, visits and interviews them about their code of practice and veterinarian plans, and asks if they are ready to handle the capital cost of a PMU operation. Luba said it costs between $350,000 and $500,000 to set up the barn and buy the brood mares.
He said the industry is half heavy horse and half light horse, depending on the rancher’s breed preference.
“I can guarantee we’ll be in business next year and we’ll have several programs to increase the quality of horses on PMU.”
