A new pour-on for lice control in sheep comes as the privately, family-owned company Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health ramps up its research and development.
The company recently released Fennec Pour-on, a duel active combination product for "knockdown" control of lice.
BI Technical Services Veterinarian, Dr Lisa Walter, said the key to the product was a combination louciside with two effective actives - Imidaclorprid and Abamectin.
Dr Walter said the combination not only did it provide effective control of the parasite, but it delayed the onset of resistance to either active.
"We've learnt from worm drenches that a combination pathway gives us an opportunity to delay the onset of resistance," she said.
"The science tells us that we will longer duration out of actives if we combine then rather than just rotating between them."
Dr Walter said the two actives were already in the market and were reported to be 100 per cent effective.
She said most farmers used a louciside if they suspected the presence of lice, or had confirmed lice, and when buying in sheep to a clean property.
If used within 24 hours of shearing Fennec provided a five week protection to prevent re-infestation during that period.
BI head of Animal Health, Andrew Palmer, said the privately owned, family company, had a long horizon of research and development and the purchase of Merial in 2017 had given the company a critical mass to go back into the R&D platform and invest in the industry.
Mr Palmer said it wasn't common for innovation into the sheep and cattle world.
"Particularly sheep. Cattle has a global relevance," he said.
"Our R&D is based in New Zealand and Australia. We do the laboratory work in NZ and clinical work across both countries.
"We are able to do work that is customised for the Australian market."
Mr Palmer said the new product had been more than six years in development.
"It's exciting times to be involve in animal science," he said.
He said BI was working in the areas of pain management and animal welfare.
Part of that was to improve market access to make products available at the on-farm level.
"Our R&D team is working towards an easy-to-use model for products," he said.
"We've got all the compounds it's the step to make it easy to use and have longevity - multiple day relief."
