Proprietary Technology Enhances Health and
Environmental Monitoring Solutions for Poultry Producers
Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside the
United States and Canada, a division of Merck & Co., Inc.,
Kenilworth, N.J., USA (NYSE:MRK), today announced the completion of
its acquisition of PrognostiX Poultry Limited d/b/a Poultry Sense
Ltd. from its founding shareholders. Poultry Sense Ltd. is an
innovator in health and environmental monitoring solutions for the
poultry industry. In March 2019, Merck Animal Health invested in
Poultry Sense Ltd., to support their development. Specific terms of
the agreement were not disclosed.
Poultry Sense Ltd., a privately held company located in Exeter,
U.K., provides enhanced technology for poultry farmers to
continuously track and analyze overall health performance for the
life of the flock; it provides users the capability to measure,
compare and record key health and environmental indicators captured
by battery-powered, wireless sensors in the poultry barn, as well
as to identify patterns and trends to predict health and well-being
and, ultimately, prevent disease and improve performance.
This innovative technology is an important tool used to assess
an animal’s health and well-being, which contributes to enhanced
productivity and efficacy measures on the farm and, ultimately, to
better food safety and security. The sensors allow farmers to
monitor and assess vital parameters by measuring weight, water
usage, humidity, light, temperature and carbon dioxide. Farmers can
therefore gain insight into the housing environment, as well as
bird health and performance.
This proprietary technology can detect health conditions earlier
in poultry that can lead to illness, thus reducing the potential
for disease outbreak. This notification is done via software
reports in an easy-to-read dashboard in real-time on any mobile
device, desktop, tablet or secure website, which also connects to
the cloud.
“We are pleased to take this step forward with the acquisition
of Poultry Sense Ltd., as we continue to broaden our portfolio with
complementary products and technologies to advance animal
well-being and outcomes for our customers,” said Rick DeLuca,
president, Merck Animal Health. “We now will be able to provide
enhanced health and environmental monitoring technology to the
poultry industry, which adds to our technological expertise within
our livestock monitoring business with beef and dairy cattle as
well as aquaculture, strengthening our leadership in shaping the
future of animal health.”
“Our goal is to improve the detection of animal illness and
enable more preventative solutions, including vaccination, to
maintain the health of livestock. We are at the technological
forefront of shaping the future of animal health through our
commitment to leveraging our scientific and technical capabilities
and expertise through comprehensive solutions to manage the health,
well-being and performance of animals.”
The Poultry Sense Ltd. product portfolio joins Merck Animal
Health Intelligence, a newly formed specialized operating unit
which takes its name from the company’s strategic vision for animal
health intelligence and data expertise. Merck Animal Health
Intelligence is a complementary business that specializes in
identification, traceability, monitoring solutions and services to
help improve animal management and health outcomes.
“The addition of specialized, digital technology within our
portfolio of medicines, vaccines and services, provides holistic
solutions to help advance animal health and complements our
existing identification and monitoring technology that delivers
real-time, actionable data and insights to help, improve or enhance
animal management and health outcomes,” said DeLuca.
“I am delighted that Merck Animal Health has chosen to acquire
this tremendous technology,” said Alan Beynon, CEO of PrognostiX.
“They have the expertise and geographic range to expand the
footprint of this product and reach more customers.”
In April 2019, Merck Animal Health announced the completion of
its acquisition of market leading brands Allflex Livestock
Intelligence, Sure Petcare and Biomark as leaders in emerging
digital technology with animal identification, animal monitoring
and smart data management for Livestock and Companion Animals. In
December 2019, the company acquired Vaki, a leader in fish farming
and wild fish conservation monitoring equipment and real-time video
monitoring technology to advance fish health and welfare. In June
2020, the company acquired Quantified Ag®, an innovator in data and
analytics that monitors cattle body temperature and movement in
order to detect illness early. In August 2020, the company acquired
IdentiGEN, a leader in DNA-based animal traceability solutions for
Livestock and Aquaculture.
About Merck Animal Health
For 130 years, Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical
company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines
and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases.
Merck Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc.,
Kenilworth, N.J., USA, is the global animal health business unit of
Merck. Through its commitment to The Science of Healthier Animals®,
Merck Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and
governments one of the widest ranges of veterinary pharmaceuticals,
vaccines and health management solutions and services as well as an
extensive suite of digitally connected identification, traceability
and monitoring products. Merck Animal Health is dedicated to
preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of
animals and the people who care for them. It invests extensively in
dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global
supply chain. Merck Animal Health is present in more than 50
countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets.
For more information, visit www.merck-animal-health.com or connect
with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter at @MerckAH.
Poultry Sense Limited
Poultry Sense combines a wealth of expertise and evidence with
the knowledge of specialist vets, engineers and data analysts to
bring together real-time data across both environmental and health
parameters to help facilitate improvements in bird performance,
economics and welfare.
The wireless system feeds accurate, live data into a bespoke
analytics platform that uses artificial intelligence to produce
insight assisting in better informed on-farm and supply chain
decision making. For more information contact:
info@poultrysendltd.com.
Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc.,
Kenilworth, N.J., USA
This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J.,
USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are
based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s
management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.
If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or
uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially
from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general
industry conditions and competition; general economic factors,
including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations;
the impact of the global outbreak of novel coronavirus disease
(COVID-19); the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and
health care legislation in the United States and internationally;
global trends toward health care cost containment; technological
advances, new products and patents attained by competitors;
challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining
regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict
future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays;
financial instability of international economies and sovereign
risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and
other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to
litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory
actions.
The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause
results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2019
Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s
Internet site (www.sec.gov).
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Merck Media Contacts:
Jeanette Lewis + 1 (973) 294-0318 Jeanette.Lewis@merck.com
Patrick Ryan +1 (973) 275-7075 Patrick.ryan4@merck.com
Merck Investor Contact:
Michael DeCarbo + 1 (908) 740-1807 Michael.DeCarbo@merck.com
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