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Key Takeaways
- Zoetis shares fell to a more than one-year low in intraday trading Friday following a story suggesting pet illnesses and deaths were related to the company’s arthritis treatments for dogs and cats.
- The Wall Street Journal noted that regulators in the U.S. and Europe have received thousands of reports of side effects from the drugs, known as Librela and Solensia.
- Zoetis told Investopedia that Librela and Solensia are “both safe and effective,” and the rates of “adverse events” are low.
Zoetis (ZTS) shares tumbled in intraday trading Friday following a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that the animal pharmaceutical firm’s arthritis treatment may have led to pet illnesses and deaths.
The article noted some pet owners pointed to the company’s Librela for dogs and Solensia for cats for making their animals sick. Librela and Solensia were the first antibody drugs for pets approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The paper noted that regulators in the U.S. and Europe have received thousands of reports of side effects from the medications, and are conducting reviews. It added that some veterinarians have changed their use of the treatments.
In an email to Investopedia, Zoetis said that the drugs are “both safe and effective.” It added that more than 18 million doses have been distributed, and it has “continued to see low rates of adverse events with only 0.18% reported for Librela and 0.3% for Solensia.”
Zoetis shares plunged 8.2% to $149.42 as of 1:45 p.m. ET Friday after briefly trading at $148.48, their lowest level in more than a year.