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12 July 2023  

Mastaplex Ltd (New Zealand, unlisted) and Vetoquinol (VETO: France Euronext) are pleased to announce an extension of their exclusive distribution agreement for Mastatest, an innovative bovine mastitis diagnostic product, in major European dairy markets, from 2023 onwards. 

Mastaplex founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr Olaf Bork commented “We are delighted to continue our distribution and marketing agreement with Vetoquinol, which is one of Europe’s largest, and most trusted animal health companies. They have demonstrated their strong belief and commitment to the success of our Mastatest technology. Their extensive sales and marketing operations in Europe, the customer intimacy, and the trust they have with veterinarians and farmers alike, give us an ideal platform for Mastatest sales growth in these key markets.” 

Stijn Van Dessel, Director of Vetoquinol Europe and Export markets commented “At Vetoquinol we have a strong commitment to supporting data-driven decisions making on farms, and Mastatest provides a simple way to generate and capture the data required to inform the best possible mastitis treatment decisions. We’re pleased to be accelerating our efforts to create value to veterinarians and farmers in Europe with this brand-new technology.” 

Philippe Gruet, Chief Scientific Officer for Vetoquinol outlined “There is a strong drive in Europe, and indeed globally, for a reduction in the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry. On dairy farms, the most common usage of antibiotics is for the treatment of mastitis. Whilst historically all mastitis cases would have been treated with an antibiotic, up to half of all cases would be unlikely to benefit from it.” 

Dr Bork continued “Now with Mastatest, in under 24hrs farmers and veterinarians can identify which mastitis cases will benefit from treatment, and which antibiotic is most likely to be effective. This has the potential not only to reduce the use of antibiotics, but also to improve cure rates and increase milk yields.” 

Over the course of the agreement, the companies will work together to introduce further product features and innovations that will make Mastatest even easier to use for a broad range of Farmers and Veterinarians. 

ENDS 

ABOUT MASTATEST 

Mastatest is the simple, automated on-farm mastitis diagnostic that informs optimal mastitis management decisions. It takes just seconds to fill the patented Mastatest cartridge with a mastitis milk sample and start the test on the Lapbox hardware device. Samples are automatically monitored using an electronic eye during the incubation time, with the data transferred to the cloud for analysis and interpretation. Results are returned to the farmer by email, and saved in the online customer portal. With data from Mastatest, farmers know within 24hrs of starting a test whether a cow with clinical mastitis requires antibiotic treatment or not, which antibiotic the bacterial strain will be most sensitive to, and what their vets recommended treatment plan is. By both eliminating unnecessary antibiotic use, and choosing the most effective antibiotic first-time, farmers and veterinarians can reduce treatment costs, improve first-time cure rates and avoid unnecessary milk withholding-periods.  

ABOUT MASTAPLEX 

Mastaplex was founded in 2018 in Dunedin, New Zealand by Dr Olaf Bork based on initial research carried out at the University of Otago. It is part of a thriving agritech sector in New Zealand, that leads the world in developing and launching innovative solutions to major agricultural challenges. Mastaplex is on a mission to revolutionise veterinary point-of-care diagnostics. Their first product, Mastatest, is a world-leading and patent-protected solution that providers dairy farmers and vets with easy, accurate, and rapid bovine mastitis diagnosis and antibiotic sensitivity data to inform mastitis management decisions for individual cows and for the herd overall. 

ABOUT VETOQUINOL  

Vetoquinol is a leading global animal health company that supplies drugs and non-medicinal products for the farm animals (cattle and pigs) and pet (dogs and cats) markets. As an independent pure player, Vetoquinol designs, develops and sells veterinary drugs and non-medicinal products in Europe, the Americas and the Asia Pacific region. Since its foundation in 1933, Vetoquinol has pursued a strategy combining innovation with geographical diversification. The Group’s hybrid growth is driven by the reinforcement of its product portfolio coupled with acquisitions in high potential growth markets. Vetoquinol employed 2,521 people as of December 31st, 2022.  Vetoquinol has been listed on Euronext Paris since 2006 (symbol: VETO).