From a small biology research center established in 1968 in a three-room apartment in Nice to the world’s sixth largest laboratory, partnering worldwide with veterinarians, farmers and animal owners: a lot of water has flowed under the bridge! Discover our contribution through the ages.
Today, 56% of the world’s inhabitants share their daily lives with at least one companion animal*.
Upon our founding in 1968, France is still an agricultural nation, where food producing animals prevail. Almost 90% of veterinarians work in rural areas, as compared to around 22% in 2015**.
At a time when companion animals do not enjoy the status that they will later earn in the hearts of the French people, veterinarian Pierre-Richard Dick already sees far ahead: he feels that dogs and cats deserve the same attention accorded to food producing animals.
This pursuit of the health and well-being of all animal species, so dear to our founder, is deeply anchored today in the values of our company. It serves as daily guidance to all our teams around the world.
Listening to veterinarians, farmers, and animal owners
To provide useful solutions that improve veterinary practice and the care given to animals, we strive to meet tangible needs with safe, efficient and easy-to-use products.
Because they are in constant contact with animals, veterinarians, farmers and owners, were our first source of inspiration from the start.
Result: we often release the right product at the right time. Many of these innovations will enjoy lasting success. Such is the case for many variations of the parasiticide collar, almost 300 million of which have outfitted dogs and cats for 40 years!
Driven by this constant search for ingenuity and pragmatism, we have made formulation one of our major know-how in terms of innovation. The creation of a dedicated laboratory in the mid-’70’s gave our teams the impetus of inventiveness that has not been refuted since. For example, in 1985, alongside farmers, we developed prolonged-release boluses intended for the antiparasitic treatment of ruminants. In 1997, another innovation is micro-encapsulation technology, which serves as the basis for the first dermatological shampoo for dogs and cats that remains active after rinsing.
As for biology, we were inoculated with the virus from the very beginning.
Trained at the Pasteur Institute, our founder Pierre-Richard Dick used his knowledge to develop vaccines, which are now essential to veterinary practice.
On the strength of scientific partnerships with international research laboratories, we were able to design biological products that were to become milestones: first homologous vaccine against canine parvovirus in 1982; first genetically engineered vaccine against feline leukemia in 1988; and the oral anti-rabies vaccine for foxes, delivered by helicopter!
Because animal health knows no borders
Very soon after our first steps, Pierre-Richard Dick sensed that animal health was a global issue.
Our first explorations abroad date back to the 1970s in Europe. Wishing to work for animal health all over the world, we gradually offer our health solutions internationally, taking a key step in 1982 with the creation of our first subsidiary in Germany.
We have been opening up to new horizons ever since, and today we make our products available in more than 100 countries and operate production units and R&D centers on five continents.
A regionalization of research and production that allows us to act as close as possible to local health issues.
Animal health from all angles
In the 1970’s, there was a sense of urgency around public opinion in developed countries, where there is already an increased awareness of well-being and protection. In response to this, France enacts a law, which in 1976 recognizes the animal as “a sentient being.” In turn, Unesco declares the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights in 1978. Convinced that the quality of the relationship that unites man and his pet, increasingly considered as a full-fledged member of the family, is determined as much by the animal’s well-being as by its health, Pierre-Richard Dick gradually built our offer with this global approach in mind. Today, our range of products includes a complete set of solutions for diagnosis, prevention, treatment and, more generally, for the quality of life of the animal. In this field, we are mobilizing to respond to day-to-day issues by sharing our solutions for dental, skin, eye, and ear hygiene, as well as food supplements, soothing products and nutritional solutions.
A resolutely future-oriented approach
According to the World organization for animal health, 75% of emerging diseases in humans are of animal origin. At Virbac, we are aware of the interconnectedness of the living world, and each of our advances is intended not only to contribute to the health of animals but also to fully integrate the link that connects humans, animals, and their environment. Committed to the fight against zoonoses (rabies, leishmaniasis, dirofilariasis, etc.), we are also making progress while taking into account the major issues of food safety and quality. Evidence of this is our active search for alternatives to antibiotics and the gradual availability to veterinarians of vaccines dedicated to food producing animals, as well our contribution to the development of the aquaculture sector, promoting a future animal protein. Finally, through our Target 150 program, we make farmers benefit from our commitment to global solutions in the dairy farming sector, because healthy cows produce better milk!
More than fifty years have passed and we have built a solid foundation in the service of animal health. However, we are always ready to take up the many challenges linked to the constant emergence of new diseases and the importance of animal health for the health of ecosystems. To this end, we continue to evolve: innovative, learning and agile, our teams work together every day to provide ingenious solutions to those who care for animals.
* Source: GFK 2016: http://www.gfk.com/fr/insights/press-release/les-proprietaires-danimaux-de-compagnie-plus-nombreux-en-amerique-latine-en-russie-et-aux-etats-unis/ [more owners of companion animals in Latin America, Russia, and the United States] [French-language only].
** Source: Observatoire national démographique de la profession vétérinaire [national demographic observatory of the veterinary profession] – 2016.