She said, “They’re struggling to keep up with the volume of patients that are coming in, so having something like an extension of your practice has never been more valuable.” Penny Guyton, Idexx vice president of global product management and customer experience, said the feedback that Idexx gets from customers is that they consider the reference laboratory to be an extension of what they do in their practice. She said, “Efficiency and quality and innovation are the three focuses of our reference lab right now at Antech.” Meeks continued, with many practices having difficulty keeping up with demand. The veterinary industry has changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. In 2019, the company released RenalTech, which can predict chronic kidney disease in cats up to two years before signs show up on bloodwork. Meeks added that Antech is committed to predictive diagnostics, which are currently more common in human medicine. So we want veterinarians to have access to and to be able to offer wellness screening annually because if we can trend over time, we can find disease.”ĭr. Diagnostics really are the voice of the pet. Tammi Lesser, Antech senior vice president for strategic marketing and commercial support, said: “Animals can’t talk. The molecular diagnostic test detects 20 parasites, including checking for the genetic marker for drug resistance in hookworms and determining the zoonotic potential of Giardia. In March, Antech released a PCR-based fecal test for gastrointestinal parasites in cats and dogs, KeyScreen GI Parasite PCR. Veterinary teams were able to see two more pets a day. Meeks explained, but had their hands on patients. They weren’t sitting at a microscope, Dr. The company found that 71% of veterinary team members said sending fecal tests into a reference laboratory reduced stress, while 96% said sending in fecal tests allowed them to provide better care. (Courtesy of Antech)Ībout 50% to 60% of fecal tests for parasites in cats and dogs are done at clinics, according to Antech. An Antech Diagnostics laboratory technician prepares a patient’s sample for review. Cathy Meeks, Antech vice president of medical operations, said the company believes in a laboratory-first approach to diagnostics, as opposed to favoring point-of-care diagnostics. VCA was acquired by Mars PetCare in 2017.ĭr. Antech started out as the reference laboratory division of Veterinary Centers of America in 1988, with VCA adopting the name of Antech for the division in 1996. The name is based on IDX, the abbreviation for immunodiagnostics. Idexx incorporated as AgriTech Systems in 1983 and changed its name to Idexx in 1988. The biggest rivals among commercial veterinary diagnostic laboratories in the U.S., Antech Diagnostics and Idexx Laboratories, both started in the 1980s and have come to dominate the industry, focusing mostly on tests for cats and dogs.
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