Replies to post #350 on Aratana Therapeutics Inc (fka PETX)

[terry hallinan]

I got into this for Galliprant. If it works as good as current NSAIDS without side effects it'll be a huge money maker. Problem I've seen is all my vet friends (I am one) describe it as helpful but less effective than previcox or rimadyl.

I am astounded by your reply, Buckboard. I believe you are sincere and see no reason to pursue the matter of PETX's decision to withdraw the aborted offering.

To avoid any possible misunderstanding, I will give you the name of the animal hospital in Utica, NY, the vets we are dealing with there and other matters after a Thursday appointment for a checkup. We now get our grapiprant tablets ["Galliprant"] by mail order from PetMed.

Dixie is our 7 or 8-year-old, 80-lb border collie-lab mix rescued from a shelter.

We first took serious notice of a scary problem of Dixie keeping one rear leg off the ground or dragging it as a useless appendage. Her pain and some distress was obvious. I had to think OSTEOSARCOMA :-( from my limited knowledge of that horror but truthfully osteoarthritis is as deadly for dogs.

The vet at the animal hospital told my wife of the clear evidence of arthritis in front legs and chest. The odd motion in running persists but the old high spirits are back and she easily outdistances our black german shepard running. No x-rays have been taken to date. She prescribed Dasuquin Advanced, which did seem somewhat helpful but not remotely like Galliprant that I had to go on an odyssey to obtain. We needed a prescription and no local vet knew anything about it.

We both believe Dixie would by now be long underground or incinerated without the piprant. An unfortunate delay in getting a prescription to the 1st mail order supplier saw the return of the symptoms of osteoarthritis full force until we got more tablets. Galliprant is no cure but again it works wonders for now for something over $200/3 months supply. I surely understand that would be too high a burden for some dog owners.

My email is [e-mail] and I will be happy to answer any inquiries but I suggest waiting until at least the end of the week to absorb any word we get from the vet. Should anyone send an email to me, I suggest a notice here because the volume of junk email is overwhelming.

Best, Terry

[terry hallinan]

Do NOT go into Texas and call anyone a drugstore cowboy. 8<)

I married a Texan and they know what they are. They surprised me when we went to cockroach haven. They openly discussed that the mandatory great-great-great-grandmother Cherokee born on a Cherokee reservation may have been a Cherokee slave. Actually my wife is half Swede and they know what they are too which is why my son insists he is Irish. :-)

With that out of the way:

The cancer drug may be a big deal Problem there is; if I read the research right the test also included amputating the leg and many owners have a real hard time doing that. And that's if they ever get it to market.

Affected legs are usually amputated for osteosarcoma and then the dogs nearly always die anyway. The HER2 vaccine was first given to dogs that were inoperable but now has been given to dogs instead of amputation. The USDA's ignorance of therapeutic vaccines has delayed full approval but even they couldn't avoid giving conditional approval finally.

The reason dogs were probably trialed first is because the HER2 antigen can be a killer and vaccines are far more powerful than other drugs. Similar story with Galliprant. Piprants are a very complicated drug and can cause inflammation as well as fighting it.

Don't believe me?

Herceptin has been a huge success as a breast cancer drug but that HER2 targeted is expressed by many organs. Herceptin killed some women with breast cancer because it also killed some heart cells expressing the HER2 oncogene.

https://tinyurl.com/y6v84sz8

Investors in the HER2 vaccine just can't understand why even JNJ isn't rushing to lease the vaccine for humans but now we both know why. :-)

Best, Terry