The global veterinary pharmaceuticals company Elanco is planning to expand into the Irish dairy sector next year with a new drug and data collection and advisory programmes, said Gaynor Hillier, its affiliate director for the UK and Ireland.

Hillier was speaking at the relaunch of Elanco’s Irish operations following its acquisition of the animal health branches of Lohman and Novartis last year. The company has its headquarters in the US and is part of the Eli Lilly group. It has now reorganised its business here on an all-Ireland basis, with seven staff spread across the island and new distribution channels in the Republic.

The extended Elanco is now planning to build upon its presence in the poultry, pig and pet sectors here to grow into dairy and sheep. Aside from continuing research and development in the vaccines area, the company is currently seeking regulatory approval to launch its Imrestor product in Ireland in the first quarter of 2016, Hillier said. The drug was designed to boost the immune system of cows during the three months around calving, which Elanco describes as “the vital 90 days” when occurrences of diseases such as mastitis and lameness are more frequent.

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Imrestor is already available in New Zealand, Brazil and Mexico, with Ireland its next target market ahead of Britain.

In partnership with vets, Elanco will also start collecting health data from Irish dairy herds participating in advisory programmes.

“For the past 20 years, we’ve been collecting data in a poultry broiler base,” Hillier said, adding that the company had unique information on bird health as a result. “We have ground-breaking tools that we want to share with you, especially in the dairy sector.”

Elanco is also pinning hopes on its new Osurnia ear gel to let vets treat otits externa in dogs directly, instead of letting dog owners administer ear drops themselves. Later in 2016 they will also have a new product to improve digestion performance in poultry.

Hillier said Elanco decided to invest in Ireland and target its dairy sector because of the industry-wide plans for expansion spelled out in national strategies such as Harvest 2020.

“The growth that is coming here all the time, the Government expectations and the way farmers deliver them is an opportunity for us,” she said.