New Product: Sucromate

SucroMate (deslorelin) is another “new” drug to hit the market in the past month. SucroMate is indicated for the induction of ovulation in mares. It is given while the mare is in heat to induce her to ovulate. This greatly simplifies the use of shipped cooled or frozen semen for breeding because we can reliably time insemination with ovulation. The active incredient in this injectable solution is deslorelin. The reason I put “new” in quotes is that deslorelin has actually been around and widely used for some time now. It initially came on the market probably around 15 years ago under the name of Ovuplant. Ovuplant was deslorelin in a sustained released implant that was placed under the skin. It was taken off the market several years ago. Deslorelin has continued to be used as a compounded product since then. Compounding is when a pharmacist formulates a product in their own pharmacy. The FDA allows us to use compounded medications when an FDA approved product is not available. The problem with compounding is that quality control is left to the sole discretion of the person doing the compounding. That almost always means that there is no quality control. There have been numerous studies that have shown that compound medications may vary widely from what is put on the label. While it may be better than nothing, it is certainly not ideal either. SucroMate is the first FDA approved product available, since Ovuplant, for the induction of ovulation in mares. From a cost perspective, it will cost less than the compounded product we had been using.