Glenn Polyn //November 3, 2020//
Press release: U.S. Food & Drug Administation
Dr. Steven Solomon, director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine, released the following communication on November 3 that reflects on a recent scientific forum to explore causes of DCM in dogs:
On September 29, 2020, scientific experts from academia, industry, and veterinary medicine came together to participate virtually in a scientific forum hosted by Kansas State University (KSU) examining potential causes of non-hereditary canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs. The event was a forum where scientists with research into DCM could share information, collaborate, and discuss many different – and even conflicting – theories on the condition. It is so encouraging to see the shared commitment to understanding non-hereditary DCM in dogs using multidisciplinary scientific approaches. FDA; the veterinary community, especially veterinary nutritionists and veterinary cardiologists and other specialists; industry and academia continue to examine this issue to help determine what factors may be contributing to the heart conditions observed and reported to FDA.
KSU has posted materials from various presenters at the scientific forum to make them available to the public. This includes my opening remarks and a presentation by a team of FDA scientists about a subset of DCM cases that made full or partial recoveries.
I am pleased that KSU and many of the presenters agreed to share their scientific work with all stakeholders as a matter of transparency. I want to emphasize that this is not an investigative update; it’s an inflection point that provides FDA with an opportunity to clarify and emphasize the following points:
FDA sees this as an ongoing, collaborative, multidisciplinary scientific venture, of which we have just one piece as the regulator of animal food and reviewer of adverse event reports received as part of the pet food early warning and surveillance system. The scientific community engaged on DCM continues to assess the available information and fill data gaps to determine what factors may contribute to the development of non-hereditary DCM. We look forward to continued engagement with scientists as opportunities arise. FDA will provide additional updates if or when substantive scientific information comes to light.
I am encouraged and optimistic that multidisciplinary collaborators will continue to exchange information and engage each other to put forth their best research and thinking, so that we all can gain a fuller understanding of non-hereditary DCM.