Monsanto Company announced August 20 that it has entered into an agreement to sell its POSILAC bovine somatotropin brand and related business to Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly's animal health division, Elanco, headquartered in Greenfield, Ind., is the seventh-largest animal health company on a global sales basis.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will purchase assets and liabilities of Monsanto associated with the POSILAC brand and related business for an upfront payment of $300 million, plus additional contingent consideration. The transaction will be completed as soon as practical. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Elanco has been marketing recombinant bovine somatotropin for Monsanto over the last decade outside the United States under a licensing agreement.
"We're pleased Elanco is acquiring this business and will continue to provide dairy farmers with this important production tool," said Carl Casale, Monsanto's executive vice president of strategy and operations. "Elanco is fully focused on animal health and productivity and is committed to the importance of POSILAC in both the domestic and the international marketplace."
POSILAC bovine somatotropin is an FDA-approved animal pharmaceutical used by U.S. dairy farmers to increase productivity. Since it was first sold in the United States in 1994, POSILAC has become the country's leading dairy animal supplement. POSILAC safely increases productivity of dairy cows thereby allowing family farm owners to more easily provide for their family and employees, reinvest in their farms, and conserve resources like land, water and energy. Over the past 14 years, more than a half billion units of POSILAC have been successfully and safely used by tens of thousands of dairy producers on millions of cows to produce wholesome, nutritious, safe and affordable milk and dairy products.
