Animalcare has launched Daxocox (enflicoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor), a weekly oral NSAID for the treatment of pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease in dogs.

The company says that Daxocox achieves significant improvement of clinical signs associated with the pain of osteoarthritis (OA) in dogs1,2 and also helps reduce the risk of breakthrough pain. 

Breakthrough pain is defined as “an abrupt, short-lived, and intense pain that breaks through the analgesia that controls pain”3. Risk factors for breakthrough pain in cases of canine OA include poor owner compliance, variable plasma drug levels between doses, natural or exercise induced flare-ups and disease progression.

According to research carried out by the company, veterinary surgeons estimate that nearly half of their canine OA cases on daily NSAIDs experience breakthrough pain4, whilst owners put the figure much higher at 80%5.

Animalcare says that as well as compromising patient welfare and increasing the risk of clinical consequences such as wind-up pain (hypersensitisation), breakthrough pain risks owners losing confidence in their vet and/or the recommended treatment plan for their dog. This may lead owners to independently stray from the treatment plan, with potentially damaging consequences. In its research, 87% of vets agreed that avoiding breakthrough pain is critical to the management of canine OA4.

Animalcare adds that because of the pharmacology, there is no risk of risk of over-accumulation or need for mandatory treatment ‘breaks’6. Also, adverse effects were found to be no different from any other NSAID1,2 and there was no increase in treatment-related adverse effects at up to 5 times the recommended dose7, so Daxocox has a broad margin of safety and is well tolerated by dogs7.

James Beaumont, marketing manager at Animalcare said: “Daxocox’s weekly administration of a flavoured tablet addresses some of the challenges of managing canine OA that I’m certain most vets will identify with. Breakthrough pain is a real problem and by being able to provide consistent pain control, in a compliance friendly formulation, Daxocox is a real game changer for canine OA management.

For more information, visit: www.animalcare.co.uk, or contact your local Animalcare territory manager, or Animalcare’s head office on 01904 487687.

References: 

  1. Internal report: DA/197/C, pending publication. 
  2. Internal report: DA/184/C, pending publication. 
  3. 2014 WSAVA Guidelines for recognition, assessment and treatment of pain
  4. Daxocox® Vet Insight Executive Summary (N=200), January 2021. 
  5. Daxocox® Pet Owner Insight Executive Summary (N=200) January 2021. 
  6. Internal report: PK_001_2018, pending publication. 
  7. Homedes J, et al. Long-term safety evaluation of Daxocox® tablets (enflicoxib) in dogs after weekly oral administrations for seven months. BMC Veterinary Research (2021) 17:205  

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