Posted on Tue, Oct. 20, 2009

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Future uncertain for Fort Dodge

BY RICK PLUMLEE

The Wichita Eagle

Whether Fort Dodge Animal Health, a significant player in the Kansas-Missouri bioscience corridor, will keep its headquarters in Overland Park after a recent acquisition remains a question mark.

Pfizer closed last week on its acquisition of Wyeth and its subsidiary, Fort Dodge Animal Health.

Monday, Pfizer released a summary of Pfizer Animal Health’s new U.S. product portfolio.

But no mention was made of what would become of Fort Dodge Animal Health’s headquarters or whether it would be folded into the Pfizer Animal Health home base in Madison, N.J.

And apparently that decision hasn’t been made.

“We will be maintaining a presence in Overland Park for some time,” Pfizer Animal Health spokesman Rick Goulart said, “but it’s unclear how long that will be.

“We’re still looking at how we can combine Fort Dodge Animal Health and Pfizer Animal Health.”

Fort Dodge Animal Health, a global manufacturer of animal health products, is one of the key companies on the bioscience corridor — a stretch from Columbia, Mo., to Manhattan.

In recent years, numerous national companies have moved to or expanded their operations along the corridor.

Taking Fort Dodge out of the area would at least create a pothole.

Also in question is what will happen to Fort Dodge Animal Health’s operations in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where the company was founded as a small serum manufacturer in 1912.

As part of Pfizer’s acquisition, U.S. and foreign regulators required the merged company to sell off some Fort Dodge Animal Health assets to German-based Boehringer Ingelheim. Those assets included the Fort Dodge, Iowa, operation, which includes a laboratory and manufacturing facilities.

Boehringer Ingelheim could not be reached for comment. Its U.S. headquarters are in St. Joseph, Mo.

Pfizer first announced plans to acquire Wyeth in January. Pfizer Animal Health discovers and develops animal prescription medicines and vaccines.

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