ABOUT ALLERCA , CYNTEGRA AND HOW A PUBLIC COMPANY CALLED IDEXX MAY HAVE CAUSED THE PREMATURE DEATH OF THOUSANDS OF CATS AND DOGS.
Or how
against all odds, ALLERCA’s hypoallergenic cats have
established a unique place in the pet world.
ALLERCA, the company that developed the
first scientifically proven hypoallergenic cat and coined
the term “lifestyle pet”, is celebrating the one year
anniversary of the first kitten deliveries to eager
customers. Since then, the company has delivered dozens of
the ALLERCA ‘sneeze-free” kittens that for the first time
have allowed severely allergic and asthmatic cat lovers to
enjoy the companionship of a furry friend.
For Dr. Erik Viiree from San Diego, an ALLERCA customer, the
ALLERCA cat was the only option: “This summer we were given
the pleasure of receiving Jet, our kitten from Allerca. Our
home has long been devoid of pets because of my allergies,
and although my family was desperate to get a cat, I was
trepidatious about as I didn’t want a return of my allergy
symptoms. For the last number of years, I’ve been free of
allergies and definitely didn’t want them back. When I heard
about Allerca, I immediately signed up for a kitten. I was
nervous when Jet arrived, but I haven’t had a problem and
Jet is now a permanent part of our family.”
Judy Smith of Connecticut was one of the first allergic cat
lovers to sign up with ALLERCA, placing her order back as
far as 2004. As a cat owning teenager, she founds her
allergies getting progressively worse as she moved into
adulthood. “When near a cat, I usually begin having symptoms
within the first 15 minutes; runny nose, sneezing, coughing,
trouble breathing, and itchy watery eyes. I could
usually tolerate it for a few hours and then I have to
leave. It usually takes another hour or more for me to
return to normal. I'd take multiple daily allergy
medications, which helped, but only enough so I could suffer
through these visits for a few hours. “Since taking delivery
of her ALLERCA hypoallergenic cat, Judy says, “He’s just a
great cat who doesn’t cause me allergies. I am so very
delighted to finally be able to live with a cat again.”
For Jill Skibba of Los Angeles, an ALLERCA cat was her only
option to own anything but a pet fish: “I
had been looking for a pet for over a year that wouldn't
make my eyes swell, my skin itch and make me sneeze
endlessly. I
was about to give up having tried just about every breed
when I heard of Allerca. I now have Sela and couldn't be
happier. It's a miracle every time she jumps up on my lap
and I am totally fine. No sneezing, not itching! She is
loving and just a joy to have in my life!”.
For Simon Brodie, the founder of ALLERCA and developer of
the hypoallergenic cat, having kittens in homes of allergic
individuals has been a long and at times, arduous
entrepreneurial journey. He first became interested in
emerging genetic technologies after the first kitten was
cloned back in the late 90’s, and began exploring how this
new technology could be introduced to the pet industry.
Brodie evaluated a number of projects before deciding on the
development of a hypoallergenic cat. Brodie says, “For the
millions of feline allergy sufferers in the country, the
idea of a hypoallergenic cat had always been a dream, which
in turn meant there was a potential business.” So in 2004
Brodie, who has a background in business and technology,
began to seek out experts in the field of genetics who could
help produce this unique cat. “I knew I faced a number of
major obstacles and didn’t even know if it was possible.
But I had so many
people encouraging me and willing to commit to purchasing a
hypoallergenic kitten if I was successful.”
The project was officially announced in October of 2004 and
garnered worldwide attention. Says Brodie, “I expected there
to be interest, but I was taken aback. More importantly, the
response was very positive. The press did make a thing about
the then price of $4,000 (the kittens now sell for $8,000),
but those allergy sufferers aware of the cost and
inconvenience of allergy medications required to live with a
cat understood that this was a small price to pay.”
With the project moving forward and on target for the first
delivery in 2006, events took a turn that almost resulted in
the end of the company.
Events began in 2005 when Brodie was offered an intriguing
challenge: to develop a revolutionary diagnostic product for
the veterinary market using some of the same technology used
to develop the hypoallergenic cat. This new product would
bring “CSI technology” into the veterinary clinic and if
successful, would revolutionize veterinary diagnostic and
save the lives of hundreds of thousands of pets each year
through cheap and accurate diagnosis of disease.
Coincidentally, a virulent strain of canine influenza had
started to kills hundreds of animals throughout the USA and
Brodie saw this as a unique opportunity to prove the
effectiveness of the new technology.
Within ninety days, a new division within ALLERCA brought a
working and validated product to market. Brodie states:”I
was proud of the team that helped bring this to fruition so
quickly, which in turn saved the lives of thousands of dogs.
Unlike older diagnostic technologies, which often can’t show
that the animal is infected for days, we succeeded in
detecting the virus within the dog in as little as twelve
hours form infection.” Although the first iteration of the
product could only detect a couple of pathogens, a new
platform allowed the company to launch a true revolution:
the ability to detect dozens of pathogens quickly and
effectively from just a mouth swab and a drop of blood.
Launched at the two largest veterinary conventions in early
2006, the product was the hit of the show. Says Brodie:”I
had veterinarians tell me this was the biggest revolution in
animal diagnostics in the last fifty years.
Some of them were almost brought to tears by the
scope of the product.” This was a good time for Brodie and
his small team. “I sat down in the convention hall cafeteria
and thirty minutes later walked away with multi-million
dollar commitments from the largest veterinary distributors
in the country.
What helped was that we kept being interrupted by
veterinarians coming over to the table, telling the
distributors to buy plenty of the ALLERCA diagnostic
product, that they planned to use them each and every day. I
could see the distributors busy projecting for a new billion
dollar product for the growing veterinary market.”
Unfortunately, dark clouds were brewing. Two weeks later,
all of the distributors (MWI, Butler and Columbus Serum
Company) told ALLERCA that they could not
proceed with selling the new diagnostic product. Brodie
would quickly discover the cause: IDEXX Laboratories, the
largest veterinary diagnostic company in the country. It
would later be revealed that IDEXX had put pressure on the
distributors to drop the ALLERCA product, going so far as to
threaten the distributors with pulling products from their
shelves if they didn’t agree.
For Brodie and his fledgling company, this was a blow that
placed ALLERCA in a very precarious position. “Suddenly our
investors are on hold and our cash dried up overnight. We
had invested so heavily into the diagnostic project that
this turn affected the hypoallergenic cat. I had to let
people go, had trouble paying the rents and the bills. It
was tough.”
Brodie continues: “I had many sleepless nights, but I
continued to receive amazing encouragement for the
hypoallergenic cat, which really helped keep a positive
outlook.” In May of 2006, the diagnostic division, now its
own entity called CYNTEGRA, filed a multi-million dollar
lawsuit against IDEXX Laboratories claiming over $700
million plus damages. Again, Brodie has faced an uphill
struggle to keep a legal case going against a multi-billion
dollar company. “Good will prevail”, he says, almost two
years into the case. “Here is a huge company, IDEXX,
employing a hugely expensive law firm, trying attacking me
personally, trying me in the press. And yet, we are still
here, and IDEXX their $600-an-hour attorneys keep
getting butt-whipped by our lone woman attorney. “
For Brodie, it’s not just the legal comings-and-goings that
troubles him. “This is a classic case of a company, IDEXX,
trying to stifle new technology to protect its market
position. Sure, it happens all the time. But unlike this
case, it doesn’t result in the early death of tens of
thousands of loved, family pets that could have been saved
by my technology. Even more troubling is that sometime in
the next ten or twenty years, one of your loved ones, be it
a husband, wife, child or friend may die prematurely because
this technology was stifled with resulting delays for human
diagnostics. We already had a test in the works that would
allow a doctor to accurately diagnose from thousands of
potential illnesses, using nothing more complicated that a
swab form the inside of your child’s cheek.”
Even from a business standpoint, IDEXX’s actions still
confound Brodie. “Here is a public company so desperate to
protect their market from new technology that they are
prepared to potentially break the law and keep details of
serious litigation from their shareholders for months?
Something doesn’t smell right. I’m surprised that IDEXX
shareholders are not up in arms, especially considering
company insiders kept quiet about the action and then
profited from share sales before the price fell off. And
interestingly, no one seems to do have done as well as
Conan Deady, who just happens to be Secretary and General
Counsel for Idexx.
Can anyone smell insider trading?“
Brodie continues to be encouraged by the support in this
battle. “In the end, IDEXX may have caused way more damage
to itself than it realizes. I’ve had countless veterinarians
take the time to call me and tell me that they will do
everything in their power to buy from anyone but IDEXX. I’ve
even had veterinarians tell me they purposely avoid the
IDEXX booths at veterinary conventions – almost like
“crossing the street”. And
with “big pharma” taking a major interesting in the higher
profits found in the veterinary market, IDEXX can’t afford
to start upsetting its customers. And now I am hearing
rumors that IDEXX may have changed some of their diagnostic
tests after getting FDA approval - anyone know about this?”
And although he sold off his interest in the hypoallergenic
cat long ago, Brodie remains actively involved and is
pleased with how the business is growing. “When a little
girl tells me this (her hypoallergenic cat) is the best
thing ever to happen to her, then I know I have prevailed.”
As for new “lifestyle pets”, Brodie has developed a large
exotic domestic cat price called the Ashera, priced at
$22,000, which already has a year waiting list, and a new
breed of small dog is in development.
In the meantime, Brodie is raising funds to launch the next
version of the diagnostic product. “I started off being able
to detect one or two pathogens. Now the technology exists to
launch a version that can detect over 50,000 targets,
everything from viruses, to bacteria, to parasites, to
genetic problems – and all from a cheek swab and a drop of
blood. Aside from being used in veterinary medicine, the
human implications are astonishing. And the market is
immense.” And he has been approached to help up-and-coming
entrepreneurs who are not only “first to market”, but the
“first ever”, which brings its own unique complications –
something that Brodie knows too well.
FOR INFORMATION ON THE CASE AGAINST IDEXX, ALONG WITH LINKS TO E-MAILS, COURT DOCUMENTS, ETC., PLEASE SELECT THE "NEWS" TAB ABOVE.