The end is near for PMU farms in Canada

I was at a health conference this afternoon. I was there to watch a friend do a presentation. I watched as a multitude of subjects were presented, from irvingia gabonensis side effects to how exercise increases bone mass. I was bored beyond tears at one point until a young woman got up and did a power point presentation of the PMU industry in Canada. For those of you who don’t know what the PMU industry is, it is the production of the drug Premarian using pregnant horse’s urine. The industry has been going on for the last 25-30 years now. The woman that was presenting the information was using old news. She was claiming that the industry had over 400 farms that produced the urine for the drug. Yes that was true about 8 years ago, but the demand dropped and the bottom has almost fallen out of the industry.

I was curious after I left that conference and decided to find out what the real news is about the PMU industry….not just news that is 5 years old. I discovered that Pfizer/Wyeth, the makers of Premarian have issued contract cuts to their suppliers. That means only 22 farms are left to produce the urine for the drug. 22 is a far cry from 400 farms and most of the 22 only have about 40 horses each.

I can see that in the next few years the PMU industry will have run its course and will be no more. If you want to read the news story (dated May 2010) on the shutting down of the farms in Canada here is the link