Cover Story
- IDEXX Acquires CoVetAI
Featured Article
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- Small Steps for Lifelong Pet Health
Product Launch
- IFF Launches Omni-Bos PHY for Dairy Cattle
- Capillus Enters Pet Wellness Market with Light Therapy Devices
- Patterson Veterinary Launches Atlas AI Assistant
Product Expansion
- IDEXX Expands Faecal Dx Antigen Testing in the UK
Regulatory Development
- Loyal Advances LOY-003 Toward FDA Conditional Approval
- ECO Animal Health’s Ecovaxxin MS Advances Toward US Licensure
Strategic Partnership
- Vet Solutions Partners with CoVet to Bring AI-Powered Workflow Support
IDEXX Acquires CoVetAI
Strategic Acquisition
IDEXX has acquired CoVetAI (CoVet), a provider of AI-native ambient listening and clinical workflow software for veterinary practices. The deal is intended to strengthen IDEXX’s connected diagnostics and software ecosystem. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Key Highlights
- CoVet uses ambient listening and AI to capture and organize information from consultations, treatment planning, and client follow-up, aiming to reduce documentation burden and improve access to patient information.
- Post-acquisition, CoVet will integrate into IDEXX’s software ecosystem while remaining compatible with non-IDEXX practice management systems and other ambient scribe solutions.
- Expands IDEXX’s AI strategy beyond diagnostic analyzers (e.g., inVue Dx, SediVue Dx, ProCyte One, DecisionIQ, Web PACS) into broader clinical workflow, connecting pre-, during-, and post-consultation data with diagnostics and decision support.
- CoVet’s footprint spans independent and multi-practice groups, including regions not currently served by IDEXX practice-management systems; integration with VetConnect™ PLUS is expected to further link clinical notes with diagnostic results.
Impact
The acquisition gives IDEXX an AI-native workflow layer that complements its diagnostics, practice-management, and decision-support portfolio, positioning software as a connective tissue between clinical conversations, diagnostic data, and veterinary decision-making. For practices, the combined platform could reduce administrative load, improve information organization, and support more personalized client communication while potentially increasing diagnostic utilization.
Small Steps for Lifelong Pet Health
Keeping a pet healthy is not only about treating illness when something goes wrong. Preventive care takes a proactive approach, combining routine veterinary visits, vaccinations, parasite control, nutrition, dental care, exercise, and monitoring at home to help pets stay healthier throughout their lives.
Regular veterinary check-ups are at the heart of this approach. A physical examination can reveal changes that may be difficult for owners to notice, from dental problems and weight changes to abnormalities affecting the skin, joints or internal organs. As pets age, veterinarians may also recommend blood, urine or other screening tests because some conditions can develop quietly before visible signs appear.
Vaccination and parasite prevention are another important part of staying ahead of disease. Vaccines help protect against potentially serious infections, while appropriate parasite control can reduce the risks associated with worms, fleas, ticks and other parasites. However, preventive plans should not be identical for every pet. Age, lifestyle, environment, health status and exposure risks all influence what care an individual dog or cat needs.
Everyday habits matter too. A balanced diet and appropriate portion sizes can help maintain a healthy body condition, while regular physical activity and mental stimulation support mobility, behaviour and overall wellbeing. Dental care is equally important, as untreated oral disease can cause pain and affect a pet’s broader health.
Perhaps the most valuable part of preventive care is early attention to change. A pet eating less, losing weight, becoming less active, drinking more, developing unusual behaviour or simply seeming different may be showing an early sign of a health problem. Recognising these changes and discussing them with a veterinarian can help identify problems before they become more difficult to manage.
Preventive care, ultimately, is less about following a fixed checklist and more about building a lifelong health plan around the individual pet. Small, consistent steps today can help support better health and quality of life in the years ahead.
Product Launch
IFF has launched Omni-Bos PHY, a novel phytase enzyme specifically developed for dairy cattle to improve nutrient utilization and feed efficiency. The product is being introduced initially across Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific markets.
Key Highlights
- Engineered for ruminants to remain active in the digestive tract and break down phytate, which otherwise binds nutrients and limits availability.
- In one study, reduced undegraded phytate in the abomasum by ~70% vs control; lactating cow studies showed improved digestibility of phosphorus, phytate, crude protein, and calcium, with reduced nitrogen and phosphorus excretion.
- Intended to increase extraction of nutritional value from existing feed, potentially lowering reliance on supplemental phosphorus and protected amino acids and supporting use of alternative protein sources.
- Can be incorporated into concentrates, premixes, and total mixed rations, offering flexibility across dairy feeding systems.
Impact
Omni-Bos PHY extends phytase technology-long used in poultry and swine-into dairy cattle, targeting both feed-cost efficiency and environmental nutrient management. By improving digestibility and reducing excretion, it offers producers a tool to enhance feed efficiency while supporting sustainability goals in key growth markets.
Product Launch
Capillus has expanded into the pet wellness market with two light-therapy devices for dogs: the Capillus Pet Vest and Capillus Pet Joint Wrap. The products deliver targeted red and near-infrared wavelengths designed to support relaxation, circulation, muscle and joint comfort, and the body’s natural recovery processes.
Key Highlights
- Both devices use photobiomodulation (PBM); company-cited studies in dogs with osteoarthritis reported 81% reduced daily pain-medication use in one study and improvements in joint movement, stride, and flexibility in another.
- Pet Vest ($299): ergonomic harness covering chest, stomach, and back; four modes (steady, calm, recovery, wellness), three intensity levels, 20-minute sessions, suggested 3–4 times/week; available in medium and large.
- Pet Joint Wrap ($199): localized application for legs and joints, targeting areas of stiffness or musculoskeletal strain, particularly in larger dogs.
- Positioned as non-invasive, at-home supportive care; not a substitute for veterinary diagnosis or treatment of persistent pain, lameness, or injury.
Impact
Capillus’ entry extends an established human red-light therapy platform into the fast-growing pet wellness category, offering both broad-body and targeted joint PBM options. The launch underscores increasing owner interest in non-pharmacologic mobility and recovery support, while highlighting the need to integrate such devices within broader veterinary care plans.
Product Launch
Patterson Veterinary has launched Atlas, an AI-powered veterinary software assistant designed to turn practice-management data into actionable insights while simplifying routine administrative workflows.
Key Highlights
- Enables natural-language queries of practice data, pulling from multiple reports to generate recommendations on revenue opportunities, operational efficiency, and business planning.
- Automates routine tasks: finding appointment openings, preparing next-day schedules, identifying patients overdue for treatments, monitoring inventory, checking controlled-substance counts, drafting and summarizing client communications, and translating messages into multiple languages.
- Deployable within NaVetor or alongside existing practice-management systems, supporting AI-assisted workflows without requiring platform replacement.
- Extends AI use in veterinary medicine beyond clinical documentation and diagnostics into practice operations and business intelligence.
Impact
Atlas aims to reduce time spent navigating reports and performing repetitive administrative work by making operational data conversationally accessible. Its cross-platform design and focus on business intelligence could help practices better leverage existing practice-management data for day-to-day decision-making and workflow efficiency.
Product Expansion
IDEXX has expanded its Faecal Dx antigen testing platform in the UK to include detection of taeniid tapeworms (covering Taenia and Echinococcus species). The addition broadens parasite detection within a single faecal testing workflow for both routine wellness screening and sick-pet evaluations.
Key Highlights
- Faecal Dx antigen testing can detect up to twice as many intestinal parasite infections earlier than faecal flotation alone; >50 million Faecal Dx antigen tests have been performed worldwide since 2012.
- Now detects seven major intestinal parasite groups: hookworm, roundworm, whipworm, flea tapeworm, taeniid tapeworms, Cystoisospora, and Giardia (in select panels).
- Taeniid detection is added at no additional cost for UK IDEXX Reference Laboratories customers; a positive taeniid result automatically triggers a complimentary follow-up Echinococcus RealPCR test.
- Aligns with ESCCAP guidance recognizing Taenia and Echinococcus as clinically important, with Echinococcus carrying zoonotic risk.
Impact
The expansion strengthens routine faecal testing by adding a clinically and public-health–relevant parasite group while streamlining the diagnostic pathway for Echinococcus. By integrating taeniid antigen detection with automatic confirmatory PCR, IDEXX aims to improve early identification of infections in both asymptomatic and symptomatic pets within a single workflow.
Regulatory Development
Loyal announced that LOY-003, an investigational oral drug designed to extend the lifespan of large dogs, has completed the Reasonable Expectation of Effectiveness (RXE) section of its US FDA Expanded Conditional Approval (XCA) application.
Key Highlights
- Loyal’s three programs target distinct aging mechanisms: LOY-002 (senior dogs ≥10 years) targets insulin resistance; LOY-001 and LOY-003 (large/giant breeds) target the GH/IGF-1 pathways implicated in rapid growth and shorter lifespan.
- LOY-002 has also completed FDA Target Animal Safety requirements and is being evaluated in the pivotal STAY field study, described by Loyal as the first FDA-concurred interventional trial for a lifespan-extension drug.
- Completion of LOY-003’s RXE section reflects progress within the XCA framework (established in 2019) for serious or life-threatening conditions, but does not itself demonstrate lifespan extension; additional regulatory steps remain.
- The XCA pathway allows adapted evidence requirements where appropriate, enabling earlier conditional authorization while further data are generated.
Impact
Loyal’s progress embeds canine longevity research within a formal veterinary drug-development pathway, potentially creating a new category of preventive medicines aimed at extending healthy lifespan rather than treating individual age-related diseases. If the programs ultimately demonstrate effectiveness and meet remaining FDA requirements, they could offer the first regulatory-recognized therapies targeting biological drivers of aging in dogs.
Regulatory Development
ECO Animal Health Group has reached a key US regulatory milestone for Ecovaxxin MS, its poultry vaccine against Mycoplasma synoviae (M. synoviae), after the USDA Center for Veterinary Biologics (USDA-CVB) confirmed that the company’s U.S. field safety data meets requirements supporting product licensure.
Key Highlights
- Field safety study evaluated Ecovaxxin MS in >170,000 commercial laying pullets across three sites in Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin; USDA-CVB determined the data fulfill field safety requirements for licensure.
- Vaccine targets M. synoviae, an important pathogen affecting flock health and productivity in commercial poultry operations.
- Follows EU commercial launch in July 2026; U.S. would be the next major market in ECO’s geographic expansion plan for the vaccine.
- ECO expects U.S. marketing approval by end of 2026; Ecovaxxin MS is the first product from ECO’s proprietary R&D pipeline.
Impact
Acceptance of the field safety data moves Ecovaxxin MS significantly closer to potential U.S. availability, providing a large-scale safety evidence base across key poultry-producing states. If licensed as expected by year-end, the vaccine would extend ECO’s first internally developed veterinary vaccine beyond Europe into a major US poultry market.
Strategic Partnership
Vet Solutions has partnered with CoVet to integrate AI-powered clinical workflow and administrative support into the connect.vet ecosystem. The collaboration expands connect.vet beyond diagnostic imaging and image management as Vet Solutions builds a broader connected technology environment for veterinary practices.
Key Highlights
- CoVet provides an AI copilot tailored for veterinary teams to capture and transcribe consultation information and support repetitive documentation and administrative tasks.
- Integration aims to reduce time spent on clinical documentation, streamline administrative processes, improve information accessibility, and connect previously separate technology workflows.
- Positioned as a support layer for veterinary expertise—not a replacement—freeing more time for patient care and client interactions.
- Forms part of Vet Solutions’ wider investment in connected imaging, cloud systems, automation, and AI; for existing connect.vet users, this moves the platform toward a more comprehensive digital practice environment.
Impact
The partnership brings AI-assisted documentation and workflow support into a primarily imaging-focused ecosystem, addressing growing administrative burdens in practice. By embedding CoVet within connect.vet, Vet Solutions aims to make everyday workflows more efficient while maintaining clinical judgment at the center of care.
Everyday Steps to Support Pet Health
This week’s AnimalHealthX Monday Briefing explores everyday steps to support lifelong pet health, highlighting practical ways owners can promote wellbeing through nutrition, exercise, dental care, preventive healthcare, and early observation. The newsletter also covers key industry developments, including IDEXX’s acquisition of CoVetAI, IFF’s new phytase for dairy cattle, Capillus’ entry into pet wellness with light therapy devices, Patterson Veterinary’s Atlas AI assistant, and IDEXX’s expanded parasite testing. Additional updates include regulatory progress for Loyal and ECO Animal Health, alongside Vet Solutions’ partnership with CoVet to advance AI-powered veterinary workflows.
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