Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health has launched Ubropen (benzylpenicillin procaine monohydrate), an intramammary suspension containing 600mg of Procaine penicillin.

The company says that the composition and dosage of the new product has been optimised for maximum efficacy 1, 2. It offers three-five days on-label treatment options and does not need to be stored in a fridge.

According to Boehringer, the 600mg dose results in a concentration well above MICs for Strep. uberis and Staph. aureus for 24 hours, even after milking, which means it needs to be administered once a day1. In addition, its formulation enables optimum distribution of penicillin throughout the udder2. 

Kath Aplin veterinary adviser at Boehringer Ingelheim said: "Traditionally, in the UK, we have favoured broad spectrum mastitis therapy as our first line approach, however in many other European countries, including The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark, penicillin is the treatment of choice.

"For farms with a mixed or unknown mastitis pattern, the traditional broad spectrum approach to mastitis therapy makes sense. However, many vets now have a good knowledge of common mastitis pathogens on clients’ farms and, for those where gram +ve pathogens predominate, penicillin as a first line treatment is well worth considering."

In a field trial assessing the prevalence of mastitis-causing pathogens and clinical cure rates after treatment with Ubropen3, mild and moderate cases of mastitis were treated for three to five days, with the causal pathogen being unknown at the time of treatment.

Kath said: “In 80% of cases of grade one or two clinical mastitis, the causative pathogen was found to be gram +ve and, following treatment with Ubropen, the overall clinical cure rate was 81%".

Ubropen is now available from the usual veterinary wholesalers in boxes of 20 tubes.

References:

  1. Abbeloos E, Pyörälä S, et al (2018). Determination of the intramammary dose of benzylpenicillin required to maintain an adequate concentration in the milk to inhibit gram positive bacteria in the clinically normal udder for 24 hr. J Vet Pharmacol Therap. 41;691–698.
  2. Ehinger AM, Kietzmann M (2000). Tissue distribution of benzylpenicillin after intramammary administration in the isolated perfused bovine udder. J Vet Pharmacol Therap. 23;303–310.
  3. Driess M, van Werven T (2019). Field trial to motivate and support Dutch farmers to treat grade 1 and 2 mastitis more prudent. Proceedings of the IDF Mastitis Conference. Poster

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