GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Animal Medication markets. The global Animal Medication market is projected to reach US$42.9 billion by 2018, primarily driven by the current unmet animal health needs and growing need to ensure sustainable food supply. Robust demand from developing markets, particularly Asia-Pacific, also augurs well for the future of this market.

Over the last couple of decades, animal health, especially farm animals, has been gaining in popularity as a result of growing awareness backed by compelling scientific evidence linking animal health with human food safety and public health. In other words, health of animals, especially in the food animal production system, has a far reaching impact on the food chain.

With consumers demanding risk-free food and with Governments across the world focused on building newer systems for superior animal health management, its opportunities galore for animal health products including animal medication.

The rapidly growing world population is helping create greater emphasis on adequate and reliable supply of food products, including animal-based products.

Population boom is expected to result in an increased requirement for animals for food. The increase in per capita consumption of meat products worldwide is reflected in the increased demand for protein-rich food, especially in developing nations.

These countries are poised to witness strong demand for food-producing animals in the short to medium term. The pressure on animal agriculture will result in greater reliance on animal health products to increase the lifespan and health of animals.

This trend is expected to fuel the demand for innovative technologies and therapies for improving productive efficiency. Animal medication products comprising vaccines, anti-infectives, parasiticides, and medical feed additives, which help optimize the yield potential of animal production by aiding in superior digestibility of feedstuffs and satisfying the nutritional needs of animals are especially growing in prominence.

The importance of animal health products, especially medicines, can be put into perspective by the fact that sick food animals cannot produce food fit for human consumption, and the ensuing shortage of animal protein products will push up costs and trigger food inflation, while simultaneously making animal farming expensive by reducing economic sustainability and yields and by increasing the cost per kilogram of animal product produced.

Legislation of stringent regulations for the control and spread of animal diseases in an attempt to reduce instances of food borne diseases additionally benefits the market.

Growing awareness over the economic impact of diseases in livestock is steadily bringing to fore the importance of animal health economics in every farm. In addition to farm animals, the importance of companion animal health is also rapidly gaining equal importance driven partially by pet owners' obligation to keep animals healthy and partially by the growing focus on protecting human health by preventing transmission of disease pathogens from animals.

The demands placed on the quality of healthcare for companion animals such as, dogs, cats and horses, is therefore increasing. The rise in the popularity of pet assisted therapy, especially in the developed countries, therefore bodes especially well for animal health products and solutions in the companion animals sector.

Unmet animal healthcare needs as mirrored by the scarcity of new drugs, diagnostic aids, treatment monitoring, and vaccines for preventing, detecting and treating infections, brings to fore the untapped potential in the animal medication market.

Presently, there exists increased demand for new laboratory tests to monitor emerging diseases as well as an urgent requirement for developing vaccines for improving animal health. In addition to gaps in animal disease surveillance, current areas of unmet needs in veterinary care include the lack of drugs in the senior animal veterinary care market.

For instance, cognitive dysfunction syndrome in aged dogs and cats is a relatively unmapped area of treatment with very few drugs in the marketplace. Veterinary oncology is another example of where there exists significant unmet need. Cancer in companion animals has received little attention till date.

Another untapped area for drug development includes "Antidepressants" to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and separation anxiety in dogs. Also the rising tendency among companion animals to be obese or overweight fuels the need for medications specifically targeted for diabetes, high blood pressure, and congestive heart failure. Current unmet, latent and evolving animal health care needs will continue to drive growth in the market in the upcoming years.

As stated by the new market research report on Animal Medication, the US is the largest regional market for animal medication. Asia-Pacific represents the fastest growing regional market, with annual dollar sales from the region growing at a CAGR of about 10.5% over the analysis period.

Steady increase in income, rising standards of living, rise in per capita consumption of animal protein products and subsequent increase in demand for healthy food producing animals are primary factors driving growth in the Asia-Pacific animal medication market.

By product, Parasiticides market represents the largest market accounting for a majority share in the total dollar sales estimated for the global market. Vaccines market however represents the fastest growing product segment waxing at a CAGR of about 9.8% over the analysis period.

Major players in the global marketplace include Abbott Animal Health, Bayer HealthCare AG, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Ceva Santé Animale S.A., Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC, Eli Lilly and Company, Merck Animal Health, Merial Limited, Novartis Animal Health, Inc., Pfizer, Inc., Vetericyn, Inc., Vétoquinol SA, and Virbac SA, among others.