PetIQ Adds a Muscle-Health Supplement Brand Days After Shedding Its Vet Clinics

PetIQ closed its acquisition of MYOS Corp's Fortetropin muscle-health supplement portfolio on July 29, adding a clinically studied mobility line just two days after its parent finished selling off PetIQ's veterinary clinic business. The sequencing is the real signal: Bansk Group is trimming PetIQ down to branded, shelf-ready health products and out of the labor-heavy clinic operations it just exited.

PetIQ closed on MYOS's Fortetropin portfolio the same week it finished divesting its clinic business to Tractor Supply

PetIQ, Inc., a portfolio company of Bansk Group, announced on July 29 that it had closed its acquisition of MYOS Corp's Fortetropin-based muscle health product line, covering both consumer supplements and veterinary-exclusive formulations. Fortetropin is a patented, clinically studied bioactive compound that modulates myostatin, the protein that regulates muscle mass, and is backed by more than a dozen published studies across dogs, cats, horses and humans. The companies did not disclose deal terms.

"Pet parents increasingly seek solutions supporting mobility and recovery, not just treatment," PetIQ CEO Camillo Pane said in the announcement. MYOS CEO Joe Mannello said PetIQ's "distribution and brand-building expertise align perfectly with our growth goals."

PetIQ, based in Idaho with manufacturing plants in Omaha, Nebraska, and Springville, Utah, already sells PetArmor, Capstar, Minties, VetIQ and Rocco & Roxie through mass retail and club channels. The deal closes just two days after Bansk Group announced it had sold PetIQ's veterinary services business, built around the VIP Petcare clinic network, to Tractor Supply Company.

The MYOS purchase fits a private-equity playbook: shed the labor-heavy clinic footprint, buy the IP-protected, high-margin brand

Since taking PetIQ private in a roughly $1.5 billion deal in 2024, Bansk Group has been actively reshaping the company's portfolio, and the two moves this week point in the same direction. Selling off the clinic network hands off a business that requires staffing, real estate and veterinary licensing across hundreds of locations. Buying Fortetropin adds a patented, science-backed brand that PetIQ can manufacture and distribute through infrastructure it already owns, without adding headcount tied to a service line.

For MYOS, a small nutrition company that spent roughly a decade building out clinical validation for Fortetropin without ever achieving retail scale on its own, the sale solves the distribution problem that clinical credibility alone couldn't. PetIQ already has parasiticide and OTC supplement shelf space at Walmart, Kroger and other mass retailers; folding in a second science-backed, higher-margin supplement platform gives it a category to cross-merchandise alongside a flea and tick business that has faced growing private-label competition.

The timing also lands PetIQ in the middle of a broader industry scramble for the aging-pet mobility and joint-health category. Zoetis has spent this year building out an injectable franchise aimed at the same opportunity, launching its three-month canine arthritis treatment Lenivia and its feline anti-NGF monoclonal Portela in Canada and the EU. Fortetropin works through a different mechanism, an oral, myostatin-modulating supplement rather than a prescription injectable, and it slots into a different price point and purchase occasion: an owner who won't book a vet visit for an injectable will still add a supplement at checkout. That gives PetIQ a non-prescription flank in a category where Zoetis and Elanco are building out prescription-only franchises, and it's a lower-friction way for a consumer products company to get into mobility without the regulatory lift of a drug approval.

Watch whether PetIQ pushes Fortetropin into mass retail, and what Bansk carves out of the portfolio next

The clearest signal to track is distribution. If PetIQ moves Fortetropin out of its current vet-exclusive and direct-to-consumer channels and onto shelves next to PetArmor and Capstar at Walmart or Kroger, that confirms Bansk intends to scale it as a mass-market supplement rather than a premium or clinic-only product. If it stays vet-exclusive, the acquisition reads more as a defensive IP purchase than a retail growth bet.

It's also worth watching what Bansk trims or adds next. Two divestiture-and-acquisition moves in the same week suggest an active portfolio reshuffle, not a one-off; further sales of service-heavy assets or additional bolt-on brand purchases would confirm the pattern. Established players in the OTC joint and mobility supplement category, along with newer entrants, will also be watching whether Fortetropin's clinical study base and PetIQ's retail muscle turn into real share gains, which could prompt their own acquisitions or research investments to keep pace.

Source: PetIQ Acquires MYOS via PR Newswire