Zoetis growth-promoter sales in India and portfolio sale to Phibro
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported in 2018 that Zoetis sold antibiotics in India with a promise of faster livestock growth, without a prescription. In 2024 Zoetis sold its medicated feed additive portfolio to Phibro for $350 million.
Reported by AgNavigator, April 2024.
Status As of February 2026: the portfolio was sold to Phibro in 2024; no penalty is on record.
- Zoetis — Revenue from the products until 2024 and $350 million from the portfolio sale. AgNavigator
- Phibro — Acquired a portfolio of more than 37 product lines sold in 80 countries, with annual revenue of about $400 million (as summarised in the sources reviewed). AgNavigator
- The public in India and importing countries — Exposed to antibiotic-resistance risk from growth-promoter use, as characterised in the sources reviewed.
What happened
Zoetis is described in the sources as the world's largest animal-medicines company. In the United States it stopped selling antibiotics for growth promotion; the sources reviewed place this under a 2017 ban. The company's US position was that its products are not for growth promotion.
In October 2018 The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported that Zoetis sold antibiotics in India to fatten livestock, promising "faster growth", and that the products were found on sale without a prescription.
In January 2019 the Bureau reported that Zoetis had removed the growth claims from its website. The Bureau's article was headlined as the company having stopped marketing the antibiotics as growth promoters in India; the sources reviewed describe sales as continuing for that purpose.
In April 2024 Phibro bought Zoetis' medicated feed additive portfolio for $350 million. AgNavigator reported that the portfolio covered more than 37 product lines sold in 80 countries, with plants in the United States, Italy and China.
In its results for full-year 2025, published in February 2026, Zoetis reported revenue of $9.467 billion and anti-infective revenue of $1.036 billion. The same release showed medicated feed additive revenue falling from $293 million to $27 million.
- 2017United States ban on antibiotics for growth promotion; Zoetis stops US sales for that purpose
- 2018Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports Zoetis sells antibiotics in India with a "faster growth" promise, without prescription (12 Oct)
- 2019Zoetis removes growth claims from its website; Bureau reports continued sales (18 Jan)
- 2024Phibro buys Zoetis' medicated feed additive portfolio for $350 million (April)
- 2026Zoetis reports 2025 results: revenue $9.467 billion; medicated feed additive revenue down from $293 million to $27 million (11 Feb)
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Zoetis sold the antibiotics in India with a "faster growth" promise, and the products were found without a prescription.
The Bureau of Investigative JournalismZoetis removed growth claims from its website but continued to sell the products for that purpose.
The Bureau of Investigative JournalismIn the United States, its stated position was that its products are not for growth promotion; its reply on India is not in the sources reviewed.
How it looked
Shown
- "Our products are not for growth promotion" (Zoetis position in the United States, as summarised in the sources reviewed)Zoetis
- Growth claims for antibiotics on the company's Indian website, promising faster growthZoetis, as reported by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism · The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Recorded
- Antibiotics sold by Zoetis in India as growth promoters were found on sale without a prescription (Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 2018).
- Zoetis removed growth claims from its website in January 2019 but continued to sell the products for that purpose, according to the Bureau.
- Phibro bought the medicated feed additive portfolio for $350 million in 2024.
- Zoetis medicated feed additive revenue fell from $293 million to $27 million; the period is not given in the sources reviewed.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- zoetis (n.d.): In the United States the company's position was that its products are not for growth promotion; its reply to the Indian findings is not in the sources reviewed.
- zoetis (January 2019): Removed growth claims from its website. · The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Accounts
- Disputed Were Zoetis antibiotics in India sold for growth promotion?
Record
- None on record No penalty or enforcement action against Zoetis over the Indian sales is on record in the sources reviewed.
- Unclear Whether sales of the products for growth promotion in India continued after the portfolio passed to Phibro: not stated.
Did the harm stop?
Zoetis removed the growth claims from its website in January 2019; the Bureau reported sales continuing. The portfolio passed to Phibro in 2024.
Who paid?
The sources reviewed identify the public in India and in importing countries, and future patients, as exposed to antibiotic-resistance risk. No payment by Zoetis or Phibro is on record.
Sources
Company or project
- Zoetis Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 ResultsZoetis (via Business Wire) · 2026-02-11
Press and investigations
- World's biggest animal drugs company sells antibiotics to fatten livestock in India despite superbug riskThe Bureau of Investigative Journalism · 2018-10-12
- World's biggest animal drugs company stops marketing antibiotics as growth promoters in IndiaThe Bureau of Investigative Journalism · 2019-01-18
- Phibro snaps up Zoetis' medicated feed additive portfolio for 350MAgNavigator · 2024-04-30