After 5 years in practice and 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, David Burch, a veterinarian and Director of Octagon Services set up the company in 1999 to offer a specialist consultancy service to the animal health industry. With broad experience in technical services, development and marketing, in particular in the pig and poultry antimicrobial field and in swine vaccines, he has been able to assist a number of International Companies to develop, register and market their products.

With a keen interest in clinical pharmacology and an extensive experience in the testing and correct use of antimicrobials, David has published over 100 papers and articles in scientific and industry press on pig and poultry diseases and their treatment and control. He produced 'The Pig Journal' (1998-2008) and wrote 'Antibacterials: Products and Markets' (140 pages) published by Animal Pharm Reports and recently co-authored the Chapter on the "Guidelines for Antimicrobial Use in Swine" in "Guide to Antimicrobial Use in Animals" (Blackwell Publishing 2008). David is a member of the Association of Veterinary Consultants (a European consultancy group) and is an advisor on antimicrobial resistance issues and currently sits on the MRSA sub-committee of the Defra Antimicrobial Resistance Coordination Group. He is also on the Communications Committee for the American Association of Swine Veterinarians.
In 2006 David was awarded the Diploma (de facto) of the European College of Porcine Health Management and in May 2006 was elected president of the Pig Veterinary Society (a specialist division of the British Veterinary Association) and was made an Honorary Member in 2008. In November 2006, he was honoured to receive the ‘Marbocyl’ achievement award from the PVS "For services to the UK pig industry".

In March 2012, David Burch was awarded the Diploma of Fellowship by Thesis by the UK’s Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, thus gaining the title "FRCVS". His thesis was "Examination of the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) relationships of orally administered antimicrobials and their correlation with the therapy of various bacterial and mycoplasmal infections in pigs".