USA - Monsanto to Boost Growth Hormone Creation: Posilac
Published:March 22, 2006
Source :Monsanto Dairy
Monsanto Co. will boost production of a growth hormone that makes dairy cows produce more milk after receiving federal approval to make the drug entirely in the United States, the company said Monday.
The move will reduce manufacturing time for the hormone, Posilac, allowing the agricultural products company to supply more and boost its customer base among dairy farmers, spokesman Andrew Burchett said.
Burchett said Monsanto has a waiting list of dairy farmers waiting to buy doses of Posilac for their herds, but declined to say how many dairy farmers are on the list or how many already use the product.
On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Monsanto's January 2005 request to manufacture Posilac entirely at the company's plant in Augusta, Ga. The company now makes the key ingredient at the Augusta plant, and a subcontractor in Austria finishes the product.
Injections of the hormone help dairy cows produce 10 percent to 15 percent more milk, according to St. Louis-based Monsanto. But the product has met with resistance among some dairy farmers who say it stresses cows and might affect human health. Many dairies avoid the drug and label their milk as "Posilac-free."
Monsanto makes a powdered form of Posilac at its factory in Augusta and then ships the ingredients to Austria where they are processed into a final gel form by Sandoz Inc.
Sandoz is a generic pharmaceutical manufacturer owned by a Monsanto rival, Swiss drug maker Novartis AG.
Sandoz spokesman Gerold Krischker said the company will continue to manufacture the final form of Posilac in Austria to complement production in the United States.
