Merck Animal Health acquires Elanco’s aqua business for $1.3 billion

Merck Animal Health has acquired the aqua business of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (ELAN) for $1.3 billion. Merck Animal Health is known as MSD Animal Health outside of the United States and Canada, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA (MRK)

MRK's portfolio includes medicines and vaccines, nutritionals and supplements for aquatic species, two related aqua manufacturing facilities in Canada and Vietnam and a research facility in Chile.

The culmination of this agreement has allowed the development of CLYNAV®, a new generation DNA-based vaccine that protects Atlantic salmon against pancreas disease, and IMVIXA®, an anti-parasitic sea lice treatment.

Also, the incorporation of water treatment products for warm water production, complementing Merck Animal Health’s warm water vaccine portfolio. All this will accelerate the development of novel vaccines to address the unmet needs of the aqua industry.

Increasing the portfolio since December 2019

Rick DeLuca, president, Merck Animal Health, said: "We are excited for the acquisition of Elanco’s aqua products, solutions as well as the capabilities and expertise the team brings to our business."

"The addition of this innovative portfolio of cold water and warm water aqua products across vaccines, anti-parasitic treatments, water supplements and nutrition, will establish Merck Animal Health as a leader in aqua," he added.

On the other hand, Elanco Animal Health President and CEO, Jeff Simmons commented: "Following a robust process over the last year, Merck Animal Health emerged as the right strategic buyer for the aquaculture business. I am confident they will continue to deliver value to the aqua customers that rely on these products and create opportunities for our team to continue to grow."

Before, Merck Animal Health acquired Scan Aqua AS, a fish health and fish welfare company based in Norway, focused on key aqua products and Antelliq Corporation, which included BIOMARK, a passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging and tracking technology for monitoring fish and wildlife.

Finally, in December 2019, the company acquired Vaki, a leader in aquaculture and wild fish conservation monitoring equipment and real-time video monitoring technology for fish counting and size estimation from freshwater to saltwater rearing, while collecting and analytics for each stage of fish production.