MSD Animal Health has added Porceptal to the range of products available under its Repropig management system in Europe. The new product induces ovulation in pigs 30 to 33 hours after application, giving producers the ability to artificially inseminate batches of sows at one predetermined time instead of doing multiple inseminations.
By timing and synchronising ovulation, Porceptal helps producers simplify their breeding schedule and reduce the amount of time their workforce spends on heat checks and inseminations. A single insemination also allows producers to purchase less semen, but from a smaller number of higher-quality boars, which results in litters that have greater genetic uniformity. In addition, Porceptal reduces the time between weaning and insemination in sows, meaning fewer non-productive days.
Porceptal is the newest addition to MSD Animal Health’s reproduction health management platform Repropig, which also includes Regumate, PG-600 and Planate. It is used alone in sows following weaning, but in gilts it follows a period of treatment with Regumate, which synchronises oestrus. In addition to this product portfolio, Repropig includes a web-based decision-making system that incorporates herd audits, economic data and performance results to provide customized recommendations and training to help producers meet their goals.
“MSD Animal Health is committed to providing producers with the products and services they need to manage their herds’ reproductive needs,” the company’s Narciso Bento said. “We’re pleased to announce the addition of Porceptal to the Repropig portfolio to help producers maximise their reproductive efficiency while optimising costs and simplifying their schedules.”
A multi-center, multi-genetic, randomized clinical trial in the EU demonstrated that Porceptal achieved comparable reproductive performance in both sows and gilts, with a single artificial insemination, compared to a traditional breeding protocol with multiple heat detections and artificial inseminations, while providing all the benefits related with the reduced labour, fewer non-productive days and litter uniformity.
The active ingredient in Porceptal is buserelin acetate, a synthetic gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue that triggers the release of luteinizing hormone, thereby inducing and synchronizing ovulation. Repropig is administered via intra-muscular or subcutaneous injection.