Applied Biosystems’ VetMAX Xeno Internal Positive Control (IPC) uses a novel synthetic design, which reduces the likelihood of false-negative outcomes and is easy for laboratories to implement into their quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) workflows. Previously, Xeno IPC could only be purchased as part of a kit, but now Thermo Fisher Scientific is offering it as a standalone product.

“For veterinarians and farmers, the timely, accurate diagnosis of sick animals is critical to maintaining herd health,” said Martin Guillet, global head and general manager of animal health, Thermo Fisher Scientific.

“For laboratories, being able to easily incorporate Xeno IPC into their own assays means added confidence in the test results used by their customers. That is why we chose to make Xeno IPC available as a standalone reagent for laboratories everywhere.”

This innovative reagent is available in multiple formats to provide flexibility and make it easier to integrate into any laboratory workflow, including 1) RNA and DNA internal positive controls, 2) two dye-channel format (VIC and LIZ) assays, and 3) high- and low-throughput kit options.

“Often, introducing product changes into laboratory workflows can result in unwanted costs while adding a layer of complexity to a diagnostic testing environment,” said Guillet.

“We designed Xeno IPC to fit seamlessly into laboratory systems with minimal loss of time or additional costs. The result is a verification layer that can make PCR test results even more accurate by reducing false-negatives.”

A false negative occurs when the test result indicates that the sample does not contain the target virus or organism, when, in fact, the animal does have the virus or organism. The cost of even just one false negative can be extremely high.

“Since Xeno IPC is synthetic, it does not resemble the organisms the diagnostic tests are looking for,” said Guillet.

“That translates to fewer false negatives. Farmers, veterinarians and diagnostic laboratories all will benefit from the added layer of quality control that is now available with not only VetMAX-brand products, but also diagnostic tests developed by individual laboratories.”

Recommended by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Xeno IPC has been benchmarked successfully against millions of genomes, including those relevant to animal health. For more information about Xeno IPC and other leading diagnostic products, visit www.thermofisher.com/animalhealth.

Or, you can go to the Thermo Fischer Scientific Swine Diagnostic and Disease Resource Center to learn more by clicking here.