NZ innovation makes mastitis treatment easier

NZ innovation makes mastitis treatment easier
· Penethaject formulation a world first

· Locally developed in New Zealand

· Effective treatment of mastitis in dairy cows

Monday, 14th August 2017 – A new ready to use antibiotic formulation for treating mastitis that took seven years to develop, register and launch is now available for New Zealand dairy farmers.

Penethaject™ RTU (ready to use) has a unique formulation that requires no pre-mixing. It’s the first time such a formulation has been developed anywhere in the world.

Bayer dairy veterinarian Dr Ray Castle says Penethaject RTU will make it easier for farmers to effectively treat clinical mastitis, a condition affecting 10% - 20% of New Zealand’s 5 million dairy cows every year.

“The active ingredient of Penethaject RTU, known as Penethamate, previously came in powder form and had to be mixed together with a liquid by the farmer or veterinarian to create an injectable solution.

“Developing a pre-formulated version had been a scientific challenge for many years until scientists in Bayer New Zealand’s laboratories worked with Otago University to create a stable formulation, something that had never been achieved before.”

Dr Castle says Penethamate is stable long term as a powder, but not as a liquid.

“The challenge was to create a liquid formulation in which the active ingredient remained stable and active without caking or sticking together in clumps.”

To overcome the caking issue, Bayer worked with Otago University on adding different ingredients to stabilise the formulation, before finding a formulation that worked.

“The whole process, including clinical trials, stability testing, registration and commercial manufacturing, took about seven years to bring to fruition, so naturally we are delighted that Penethaject RTU is now available to farmers. It’s a world first and something that confirms New Zealand’s position as a leader in dairy science.”

Dr Castle says the chemistry in Penethaject, a form of penicillin injected into the cow’s muscle, is so clever that it allows antibiotic concentrations to build up in a cow’s udder. These concentrations are up to 10 times higher than those achieved by other penicillin formulations. This allows the antibiotic to directly work on the mastitis bacteria, particularly Streptococcus uberis, the most common bacteria responsible for mastitis in New Zealand.

Once the mastitis is treated, the antibiotic quickly leaves the milk, allowing the cow to be back in milk production, in some cases within 48 hours.

Dr Castle says that as farmers head into the milking season they need to be particularly alert to the clinical signs of mastitis, which include changes in the colour and consistency of the milk, and/or redness, heat, and swelling in the udder.

Penethaject RTU is a restricted veterinary medicine, and is only available under veterinary authorisation.

Ends

© Scoop Media