Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Establishes Pawru, Inc.
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc. today announced the creation of Pawru, Inc. as a separate company within the Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health business.
Pawru will encompass and expand the Boehringer Ingelheim’s digital collaborative animal healthcare platform, which has been known as PetPro Connect. Pet owners experience the service as a mobile app that links them with their veterinarians for telemedicine appointments, prescription refills, messaging, pet health care content and more. The PetPro products will transition to Pawru branding.
Pawru is positioned to accelerate the development of Boehringer Ingelheim’s digital portfolio. The company will also explore strategic partners to expand its commercial offerings.
“Since expanding PetPro Connect to the entire United States less than a year ago, we have gained incredible insight into the opportunities for advancing pet health and wellness using innovative digital technologies,” said Heath Wilkes, Head of US Digital Health at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health. “We are excited to deliver additional offerings as Pawru – a name that brings together a connected community to deliver friendly, engaging and valuable digital health services for all who care for pets.”
Pawru has its origins at BI X, an independent subsidiary Boehringer Ingelheim created in 2017 to incubate ideas for digital innovation in healthcare. Since making PetPro Connect available nationwide in March 2020 to meet the sudden demand for telemedicine created by Covid-19 social-distancing requirements, the platform has soared to serve more than 1 million pets.
“The evolving trends in pet health care and the experience of caring for animals during a pandemic have accentuated the importance and value of convenient and collaborative veterinary care for pets,” said Randolph Legg, President and Head of Commercial Business at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc. “By establishing Pawru, we are creating a clear path to deliver future digital innovation and growth to benefit our Animal Health customers and partners.