An industry that declined several years ago is making a small turn around.

Earlier this year Pfizer announced it would be increasing collection of pregnant mare urine (PMU) for pharmaceuticals. A company representative says this decision was informed by an evaluation of the hormone therapy market and forecast growth/demand, as well as prescribing trends and related raw material and inventory requirements.

While Pfizer did not specify the exact amount of the increase, Norm Luba of the North American Equine Ranching Information Council (NAERIC), says PMU contracts are being extended to three more farms in Manitoba.

"Not only did we add a few extra ranches, some of the guys who had been producing and women who had been producing also saw a slight increase," he says, "so it's not only the few extra ranches but it's a little bit of an increase for everybody who's been in the market and producing over the last several years."

According to Luba, Manitoba will have 18 PMU-producing farms and Saskatchewan will have five by this fall.

Several years ago, the PMU industry declined due to a significant reduction in the demand for hormone replacement therapy and other medical treatments derived from pregnant mare's urine. Luba says this demand factor is part of the reason why Pfizer reduced its collection of PMU at the time, but he says the decision also came from changes in dosage and an excess of supply.

"You know, they look at the shelf life — which is several years — they look at the demand, they look at several things and they try to look into that crystal ball and say, 'This is what we're projecting.' So, based on all of this criteria, they're saying we're probably going to see a little bit of a need for uptick (now)," Luba says.

Luba says there is projected to be an increase in demand for PMU, adding supply is low for several components extracted from the urine, so there will likely be a need for additional PMU in the near future.