Unsung heroes under the soil
Much of the scientific work being carried out at the Massey University led regenerative agriculture project, Whenua Haumanu, is below the ground.
Mastatest is a patented technology said to allow farmers to rapidly pinpoint the bacterial strains causing mastitis, understand whether an antibiotic is necessary, and which antibiotic is likely to be most effective.
The company claims using Mastatest has been shown to reduce antibiotic use by 24% on average in New Zealand conditions, and says farmers report improved treatment effectiveness, milk quality, and productivity.
Mastaplex closed the capital round with $700,000 of new equity, well over the target of $500,000. The company says the capital raise had broad support from existing shareholders, and also introduced new shareholders to the company.
Company founder Dr Olaf Bork says the funds will be used to support continued growth in New Zealand and Australia, and the launch of Mastatest into further major international dairy markets including the UK, EU and US through 2022 and 2023. More announcements will follow in the coming months with regard to these launch plans.
“Mastatest has given dairy farmers and veterinarians critical, timely data and greater precision in diagnosing and treating the specific bacteria causing mastitis,” Bork says. “This allows farmers and vets to eliminate ‘guessing’ the right mastitis treatment and get cows back into production more quickly.”
Bork says 2021 saw Mastaplex hit some major milestones, with over 1,000 dairy farms now using Mastatest and over 70% of New Zealand vet clinics now offering Mastatest to their clients.
Mastaplex doubled sales in 2021, he says.
“We have strong momentum in our home markets of New Zealand and Australia, where we have two excellent distributor partners and great support from among the veterinary community.
“We greatly appreciate the continued support of our shareholders in fuelling the company to take Mastatest to dairy farmers around the world,” says Bork.
Mastaplex has also announced two new appointments to its board, effective from 1 June 2022. Dr Ben Russell, formerly chief executive officer of animal health specialist Argenta and Rabobank New Zealand joins as chair while investment banking professional and financial consultant Matt Comer also joins the board. The new directors join Bork and Karl Gradon, chief executive of Miraka, on the Mastaplex board who have steered the company since the passing of director Colin Harvey at the beginning of 2022.
“Colin played an enormous role in getting Mastaplex off the ground and we are profoundly indebted to him for his leadership and inspiration during the foundation of The company claims farmers the company,” says Bork.
About Mastaplex
Mastaplex was founded in 2018 in Dunedin by Dr Olaf Bork based on initial research carried out at the University of Otago.
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The company claims farmers report improved treatment, effectiveness, milk quality, and productivity. |
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 patentprotected solution said to provide dairy farmers and vets with easy, accurate, and rapid bovine mastitis diagnosis and antibiotic sensitivity data.
It is said to be the only on-farm diagnostic that can deliver antibiotic sensitivity data – something only previously possible by sending samples to a laboratory.
