Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Operator: Our next question comes from Nathan Rich from Goldman Sachs.

Nathan Rich: Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. The first one on Trio, I would be curious just to get a sense of what kind of factors you are watching as you think about the impact that competition could have. And magnitudes that would kind of push you to the higher or lower end of your range for competition. And are you anticipating any changes to pricing or your promotional cadence when competition enters? And then my second question on DRAXXIN. Just how much of a drag will that continue to be in 2023? I think you have previously said that you will start to cycle the second year of competitive entry in the first quarter, but I think there has been some more recent price changes. So, just curious what we should expect in terms of the impact on the livestock business this year?

Kristin Peck: Sure, Nate. I will take the first question and then I will let Wetteny take your second question on DRAXXIN. Look, we have been expecting competition for a long time on Trio, I would say. So, I would say we are well prepared for what that is. We have been investing heavily, obviously, behind DTC, really investing with our customers and with pet owners directly to make sure that when competition enters, that we have very pleased customers. And a few things I will point to there, obviously, it’s our direct-to-consumer advertising, I would say, our broad portfolio and our €“ as you look at our relationship with corporate accounts, we are very strong with corporate accounts. We are their preferred product. So, I think that will provide some resiliency.

But I would also say auto ship remains a real strength. This is not a sector where people often switch unless there is a really good reason. So, new dogs they will make a choice. But they are not €“ I think customers are already on our product are not going to be that inspired to change. And if you look at the dynamics certainly in the U.S. around retail, it grew 43% on the year. It’s now about 11% of our U.S. business. And I highlight that because the more that insulates us from potential new entrants coming. And we obviously expect NexGard Plus, but I am sure there will be others over the next 1 year to 2 years that enter as well. So, we are really investing in insulating ourselves from that impact by investing in pet owner loyalty programs, DTC, a broad portfolio with innovation with our customers wanting to do corporate account side also underscore.

And then lastly, auto ship and strong relationships with the retail sector. So, do you want to take the second question on DRAXXIN?

Wetteny Joseph: Yes, absolutely. Look, as we said from the very beginning, we were expecting DRAXXIN to have about 20% decline in the first year of generic competition and then another 20% in the second year. The first year was slightly better than our expectations coming in somewhere around 16% decline. But the second year was a little bit worse. So, I think we are sort of in that ballpark. I think the second year is about 25%. So, we are at a level now that once we lap, I would say, the second year, which would be through the first quarter of €˜23, which is why in the previous commentary, we said, particularly in the first quarter, I think we are at a low enough level, won’t be as meaningful as an impact on us, and I think the drag on our overall are stock business won’t be as significant.

So, I would still expect some pressure on livestock given where U.S. cattle, for example, as a market is we are watching swine, particularly in China and anti has across other regions to determine where we end up lending. But we think livestock will be slightly down year-on-year, maybe marginally better than we €“ than you saw in 2023, where livestock was down 2%.

Operator: Our next question comes from David Westenberg from Piper Sandler.

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