Newsletter snapshot

In this edition, we are pleased to share our latest updates, including new 2025 pricing details, animal availability, preparations for warmer weather, and exciting trials for shipping and timed mating services.

Pricing for 2025

Our price list for 2025 is now available on the website. We have fine-tuned the pricing to be more consistent and predictable across different ages, with gradual weekly adjustments. On average, prices will see a modest 5% increase, varying by strain, sex, and age. This isn’t a blanket increase; each strain has been reviewed individually.

For those purchasing animals by weight, a separate weight-specific price list will no longer be provided. Animals will be priced based on age with a 15% surcharge for weighing, reflecting the additional time and animals required for weight-specific selection. This option will soon appear under “additional services” in our ordering portal.

Despite a 4.6% increase in third-party courier and airline charges, we are pleased to share that Ozgene ARC is committed to keeping all internal pricing components, including shippers, unchanged. As a result, the increase in shipping costs will be less than 4.6%, with the exact adjustment depending on the number of shippers and your location.

The new pricing will be updated on the portal in the coming week and will apply to orders with delivery from 1 January 2025 onwards. There will be no increase for pre-allocated orders already placed for 2025 prior to the new pricing upload.

Animal availability update

Thank you for your responses to our survey. Based on your feedback and our currently available animal stock, we seem to be meeting the demand for mouse and rat strains effectively, except for the NSG strain, where demand has increased significantly in the past few months. Please note that we currently have excess C57BL/6 females available off-the-shelf. We continuously monitor excess stock and adjustments are made to colony levels accordingly.

Please reach out if you require additional animals, our customer service team is here to help. We encourage you to use the “submit feedback” button on the ordering portal if the availability is insufficient or you have other feedback on our service.

Preparing for hot weather

Things are heating up again, at least here in the west, so here is a reminder of our hot weather policy.

At 9:00 AM Perth time, one business day before dispatch, if the predicted 10:00 PM Perth Airport temperature on the dispatch date is 29°C or higher, interstate shipments will be rescheduled to the next suitable day. The 10:00 PM timeframe is chosen as animals are loaded onto flights between 10:00–10:30 PM. Similarly, if the predicted temperature at 9:00 AM at the destination or connecting airport is 29°C or higher, shipments to that airport or destination will be postponed until the next suitable day.

We recommend placing time-sensitive interstate orders for delivery on Tuesday. This allows us to explore possibilities to deliver within the same week if dispatch on Monday is impacted due to hot weather.

Timed mating trial

Our new timed mating service is underway, and we are inviting you to participate in a limited trial. This trial allows us to refine our digital systems for injections, mating, separation, and shipping of timed mated animals. The trial will focus on C57BL/6, with up to 10 females per order. We expect to roll out a basic service this month, followed by a fully automated option on the ordering portal in the following months.

Pricing for the C57BL/6 trial will be $179.10 + GST/animal for 2024 and $187 + GST/animal for 2025. Please reach out if you would like to participate either by emailing arc@ozgene.com or by filling out our contact form. Spaces are limited, so don’t miss out on being part of this exciting development!

Shipper trial

To ensure the best shipping experience for our animals and customers, we will be trialling durable hard shippers from the Jackson Laboratory as an alternative to the small corflute shippers. This change comes at no extra cost to you, and we welcome your feedback during the trial period. During this time, you may receive a mix of hard and corflute small shippers, while large shippers will continue to be made of corflute. We will gather feedback from you and our animal technicians to help guide our long-term shipper selection.