Australia's Integrated Animal Health to open offices in U.S.

Australian-based Integrated Animal Health (IAH) said it will open a U.S. office for its North American headquarters in what is marketed as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, and named Blake Hawley as president and chief executive of the operation.

The company said in a press release that it will decide on office space by the end of the summer. The corridor is a region that spans from Columbia, MO, to Manhattan, KS.

"We knew that the KC Animal Health Corridor was the ideal location to establish Integrated Animal Health's North American presence and grow our product lines globally," Rob Neely, the company's CEO, said in a statement.

The company also said it would be ramping up its staff and expected to announce "key" hires in the coming months. In October, Queensland, Australia-based IAH announced it would begin rolling out oxycodone patches to treat pain in animals. That news followed a study of the pain patches on race horses.

More than 300 animal health companies are located along the corridor, giving the Midwest stretch of landscape the largest concentration of like companies in the world.

- check out the release