The animal health industry is undergoing very interesting times. In 2014 it was worth 23.9bn US$ at a nominal growth rate of 4%. Of this, 62% was attributed to pharmaceuticals, whilst biologicals and medicinal feed additives are gaining importance, with 26% and 12% market share, respectively. Mario Schäfer, Laia Ramoneda and Claudia Gomez of Trifermed explain why it is advisable for developing SMEs to be surrounded by partners with adequate financial resources and know-how in order to face upcoming challenges and turn those into opportunities for intelligent exit strategies in a growing industry.