By ANN HINCH

Associate Editor

GREENFIELD, Ind. — Last Friday marked one year since Elanco Animal Health transitioned to an independent public company, and earlier in the week was the second annual Forbes AgTech Summit in nearby Indianapolis – to take advantage of the visibility of both, Elanco President and CEO Jeff Simmons introduced a corporate effort “to rediscover the power of healthy animals.”

Companion animals and livestock are central to Elanco’s existence, each comprising about 50 percent of its research and product development. Simmons argues that these animals and their caretakers – farmers and veterinarians – are also central to today’s social issues, and further, hold keys to helping solve some of those problems.

“We believe animals are ‘the X factor’ … that the world is looking for” to help unlock solutions to pressing problems, he said at Elanco’s Greenfield headquarters last week. He added the company is looking to form a foundation, possibly by the end of this year, to marry this X factor to tackling such issues.

He pointed out Elanco will have a wider reach now, as it was announced last month it is purchasing Bayer AG’s animal health business. This deal is poised to make Elanco – formerly an Eli Lilly and Co. property – the second-largest animal health leader by global revenue.

Right now, Simmons listed five major issues the world is facing that involve animals. One in the headlines for months is the loss of hogs in Asia, particularly China – he said to date, it’s estimated the equivalent of roughly three U.S. systems of pork production have been culled because of African swine fever, leaving a giant gap in protein supply.

Another hot issue is how fast-food chains are latching onto alternative proteins – meat-flavored plant-based products such as the Impossible Whopper from Burger King and Beyond Fried Chicken from KFC. This is in part linked to another issue Simmons brought up – the role of livestock in environmental sustainability and climate change.

Two other topics in which he said animals play important roles are human health care and the growing trend of pet ownership, especially among Millennials.

Despite the worry some livestock groups and farmers have about meat being phased out of diets, Simmons said that’s not the case. This year, for instance, Americans are on track to consume more meat and poultry than ever before. By 2050, he said farmers will need to be able to produce 70 percent more protein than they do now.

Alternative proteins, while growing in market share, represent an approximately $4.5 billion industry right now, he said. Meanwhile, animal protein is a $1 trillion annual industry worldwide. Still, he noted it’s a good time for stakeholders to differentiate animal protein and tout the nutritional benefits of meat-based over plant-based.

Livestock, Simmons said, is uniquely positioned to help improve environmental health, as 60 percent of the world’s agricultural land is not suitable for food crops but is good for pasture. Farmers can realize a future of net-zero carbon emissions by using new production methods, not to mention livestock feed is chiefly comprised of food humans won’t eat, that would go to waste otherwise.

Plus, livestock can produce more protein than they consume, he said, pointing to cattle as one example – putting out 19 percent more than they eat. And there are already farms with anaerobic digesters – for instance – that turn animal waste into renewable energy.

But animal health is necessary to all this. Simmons said worldwide, producers are losing about 20 percent of livestock to disease and death, and Elanco already works to address such problems. “Healthy animals are not a ‘nice-to-have’” for a better world, he said – “They’re a must-have.”

Another aspect of Elanco’s research, said Vice President of Innovation, Regulatory and Business Development Aaron Schacht, is making animal protein healthier and more nutritive. Sometimes this involves genetic modification, but this is still a sticky wicket as social issues go. Ongoing company research focuses much on vaccines and infectious disease treatment in animals.

“What happens in the gut of an animal” is important to all the issues Simmons outlined, said Schacht, explaining that understanding how that process supports or detracts from each kind of animal’s health is the key to useful research. “It’s like (exploring) outer space.”

Yet another way Elanco can aid in animal care is by helping veterinarians manage their practices better and recognize the need for each other’s mental health care. Sarena Lin, executive VP of Corporate Strategy, Global Marketing, said veterinary professionals are under severe stress and higher suicide contemplation today from “compassion fatigue” stemming from all the illness and death they deal with, as well as financial stress from heavy college debt loans.

Elanco can provide business advice to such vet practices, as well as training to ease stress and to help these people recognize the warning signs in their colleagues and employees.