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“In order to come up with a product which shut down acid production in the equine stomach, several stages of planning took place,” Pipers said. “First, we needed a development program of the product, and then we needed to figure out dosage, and the optimal formulation to deliver the dose. We also needed to conduct field trials for acceptability in the real world environment.”
“We found that in the test group that the horses treated with omeprazole responded very well in regards to the lessening of gastric ulcers,” Pipers explained. “Within four weeks times 99% of those horses had improved and 87% had healed." Of those horses who were treated with a continuing dose of the omeprazole, 84% showed no signs of relapse after another 30 days, while 92% of horses who were taken off the treatment showed ulcer relapses after the same 30 days. “The next step was to formulate the product, once we had established the fact that it did indeed work,” Pipers concluded. “Having a paste in a once-a-day dose, is a very user friendly product, and after vigorous testing, we were able to come up with a dosage which would be applicable to all horses, including foals.” Pipers had joined Merial, the makers of Gastrogard, as a technical advisor on equine products in 1992. A graduate of The Ohio State University, Pipers is considered to be an expert in the field of equine gatroenterology, and is the author of over 75 publications. He has served on the staffs of the University of Florida and Tufts University, and was responsible for the introduction of echocardiography within veterinary diagnostic procedures. His earlier research focused on thoracic diseases and diagnostic ultrasound.
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