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April 10, 2018
OptiGen and Mars Petcare's genetic testing unit, Wisdom Health are pleased to announce exciting
news… For many years, both OptiGen and Mars Petcare
have enjoyed an informal relationship of cross marketing and collaboration on
research projects. Now we are formally joining forces through Mars’ acquisition
of OptiGen. Our companies’ mutual commitments to provide the highest quality of
DNA testing services for dogs, supporting research aimed at identifying causes
of inherited diseases, as well as our shared respect for intellectual property
where it exists in the field, makes this an excellent fit. Through this
evolution, we believe our clients will greatly benefit from access to an
expanded array of multiple tests—both for inherited diseases of particular
interest to their breed, as well as to
tests for physical traits such as coat color and body size that have not
previously been offered by OptiGen.
To
all of OptiGen’s loyal customers, we want to assure you that we are confident
that Wisdom Health shares the same
absolute commitment to providing accurate and timely test results as you have
come to expect from OptiGen. During the transition, all members of the OptiGen
team will remain at our Ithaca location and we look forward to assisting you,
as always. Some aspects of the long term operations are yet to be determined as
we configure the best way to serve our customers but in the immediate phase,
please continue to order and send samples to OptiGen via our website just as
you have always done. Although
there are still questions about long-term operations following the acquisition,
there are some important certainties that will remain:
- Utmost commitment to accuracy and customer service.
- Expert genetic counseling and guidance for how to best use
the DNA tests for your breeding program. Clients who make use of this service
will benefit from additional veterinary expertise provided by Wisdom Health.
- Acceptance by the OFA and all other breed or health
registries of all test results.
- Archived samples, i.e. samples that you have previously sent
to OptiGen for testing, will still be available with the option of adding new
tests as they are developed.
- Access to your dog’s testing data, including copies of test
reports, for dogs you have previously submitted to OptiGen, will remain
available.
- Continued investment in research projects and our commitment
to identifying new mutations that cause serious inherited diseases in dogs.
As
technology in the field of canine genetic testing has continued to advance,
OptiGen has been searching for how to make the best leap to new platforms. With
Wisdom Health as a leader in this field, we believe they are by far our best
partner to make this transition, and with them we look forward to providing our
clients with state-of-the-art DNA testing services while at the same time lowering
overall costs. To help you become familiar with the new expanded services that
will be phased in following the acquisition, please visit the webpage for Optimal
Selection (in North America) or MyDogDNA (for
countries outside of North America). For a quick view of the breed-specific tests for canine
inherited diseases offered by these panel tests, please use the search engine
available on the “Breeds” section of MyDogDNA.com’s
website.
All of us on the OptiGen team are excited about this new chapter in our 20 year
history of serving conscientious dog breeders around the world. We hope and
expect this new alliance will provide you with even greater opportunities to
produce the highest quality dogs in your breeding program. We remain thankful
to our many friends in the field who have supported OptiGen over
the years and we look forward to continuing to provide you with the best
possible services available in canine genetic testing.
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