Frequently Asked Questions

Animalytix® analysts group “like” products for reporting purposes. “Like” products are those that are identical in terms of composition despite being offered in a variety of package sizes or commercial presentations. Specific groups of vaccine antigens sold by a given manufacturer, whether offered in 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, or 250 dose presentations, are combined for reporting purposes under a single ALYXSM Product Group.

Reported vaccine doses reflect the number identified on each vial of product while individual intramammary infusion syringes, growth promoting implants, and boluses are each reported as a single animal dose. For products with variable dosing, such as anti-infectives, anti-parasitics, and certain reproduction hormones, Animalytix uses the lowest approved dose for a given weight animal (eg, 500 lb. ruminant, 100 lb. swine and 1,000 lb. horse). A standard dosing equivalents page is provided for each subscriber in their secure web portal.

Each sales transaction includes a physical “ship-to” location which IntegriChain plots with a specific latitude and longitude positioning routine. Transactions with a minimum of a valid 5 digit USPS ZIP code are included in reported data. Any transaction that lacks a valid 5 digit USPS ZIP code is excluded from reporting until such time as a valid physical address or, at minimum, a valid 5 digit USPS ZIP code can be determined.

Data providers for the Animaltyix market report series are committed to protecting the privacy of their clients and as a result, Animalytix has instituted a set of safeguard to assure no individual sales information is either reported or can be extrapolated from any Animalytix market insight report. The Animalytix Privacy Rules determine the level of geospatial (DGA) reporting allowed per report. The Rules require a minimum number of MCPs (5) with a maximum market share limit per MCP (25%), a minimum number of data providers (3) with a maximum per provider limit (70%) for any reported DGA. When met, the lowest geospatial area allowed to be reported is a 3-digit USPS ZIP code. When an individual 3-digit ZIP code fails to meet the required privacy rules, adjacent ZIP codes are aggregated until either (a) the required rules are met or (b) the aggregation reaches a total state level, at which point the combined state data is reported. To assure an accurate count of unique customers, Animalytix uses a fifth privacy rule to aggregate certain “ship-to” locations known as the “100 Meter Rule” which is further described below.

Distributors and other data providers have a variety of ways in which they enter physical address information into their sales information systems for clients. When combining sales information from a variety of distributors, determining “unique” numbers of customers is difficult to these variations in data inputs. To assure an accurate count of actual customers for the purposes of meeting the Animalytix Privacy Rules, Animalytix consolidates all “ship-to” locations which share a physical location within a 100 meter radius. While this may slightly reduce the number of unique “ship-to” locations reported per report, it eliminates the potential of “over counting” the actual number of customers and potentially undermining the Animalytix privacy rule for number of MCPs per reported geo area.

A Market Consumption Point (MCP) is a “ship-to” location associated with a specific sales transaction following the completion of a privacy rule processing routine referred to as the “100 meter rule.”

Any animal health distributor is welcome to request to participate as an Animalytix data provider. Interested parties can contact Animalytix and request an introductory meeting at which time participation requirements will be reviewed including the content, structure and frequency of required data transmissions.

Each ALYX Market Survey report includes both an Executive Summary in an electronic .pdf format and an accompanying flat data file in a CSV (comma separated value) format. While the .pdf is formatted for quick reference of the most important macro information, the detailed sales information is contained in the CSV file. Each CSV contains three years of sales history and includes total sales in dollars and doses for each of the 36 months covered in the reporting period. Additionally, all sales are reported at the Designated Geospatial Area level, making it possible to conduct detailed geospatial analysis of the full data set.

Animalytix uses United States Postal Service 3-digit ZIP codes as its base geo reporting unit for the ALYX Market Survey reports. The United States Postal Service currently uses more then 900 3-digit ZIP codes for mail delivery which means an Animalytix report can have a maximum level of geo granularity of 900 geographic areas. Animalytix determines reportable geo areas based on meeting the Animalytix Privacy Rules which set limits on the minimum number of “shop-to” locations, distributors and relative markets shares for each in any reported geo area. Geo aggregation begins at a single 3-digit ZIP code level and any failure to meet the required rules results in aggregation of adjacent areas. This process continues until all 3-digit ZIP codes in a given state are aggregated together, at which time, the total aggregated sales information for that particular state is reported. The maximum reporting area for any given report is fixed at a state level which assures each ALYX report will have, at minimum, detailed sales information for products sold in dollars and doses for each of the 50 states.

Animalytix attributes sales for each product to the current owner or commercial agent for those products for the full reporting period covered by the data. As an example, products previously marketed by Fort Dodge Animal Health are currently attributed in their entirety to either Zoetis or Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica. This eliminates the issue of market share growth via acquisition and provides a more seamless view of the actual market performance for individual products over time.

Products which share a common ANADA registration number are grouped for reporting purposes (e.g., all Ivermectin pour-ons are grouped for reporting sales dollars and doses). Where possible, generic products sales are attributed to their individual manufacture when calculating total manufacturer sales.

In some cases, Animalytix is unable to identify the manufacturer of a specific product and in those instances, the term “Not Yet Identified” is noted in the manufacturer column. In other cases, several different manufacturers may produce a given product, something seen frequently with generics, and in those instances, Animalytix notes this fact by using the “Multiple Manufacturers” designation.

For the DGA and Leading State Summary pages, the report includes columns that reference the Leading ZIP Codes. These columns include up to the top three 3-digit USPS ZIP Codes per reported geo area (DGA). The ZIP Codes are force ranked based on dollar sales for the MAT period.

For the DGA and Leading State Summary pages, the report includes columns that reference the Leading Counties. These columns include up to the top 3 counties per reported geo area (DGA). The Counties are force ranked based on dollar sales for the MAT period.

The HEAT map shown on each Leading State Summary page is the same map as is shown on page 10 of each report (ZIP 3 Heat Map – Dollar Sales Based). The Leading State versions of these maps also include a designation of the applicable 3-digit USPS ZIP Code for the leading 3-digit ZIP Codes in each state for orientation purposes.

Animalytix has established an extensive series of quality control processes to assure the validity of the submitted market information. Animalytix conducts a series of data validity and integrity checks on all in-coming data to assure it conforms with the required data structure, contains valid date ranges and contains readable data in each of the required fields. The process flags any corrupted or incomplete transmission or further analysis by an Animalytix analyst. Transactions which can be confirmed as valid are re-submitted and then processed while those proving to be invalid are discarded. Upon processing, Animalytix undertakes a series of QC checks to assure accurate units of measure, valid category assignments and appropriate report formatting. Additionally, routine checks on daily data transmissions per data provider, both in terms of volumes and relative sales per reporting category, assure routine receipt of required data.

Each ALYX Market Survey and Market Sensus reports the top 20 individual product groups in terms of total doses sold. Among these leading 20 products, Animalytix designates the product which has shown the largest growth since the previous reporting period as the “Top Market Mover.”

Data providers send daily EDI 867 transmissions to Animalytix who then completes a series of incoming quality checks and a standard pre-processing routine. On or about the 25th day of each month, the previous month’s data is fully loaded and initiates the monthly reporting routine. This process generally requires 5+ days plus an additional 1-2 days for reprocessing in the event any anomalies are identified during the processing procedures or the subsequent quality control reviews. Once released for publication, Animalytix posts subscriber’s reports to their secure web portal location for viewing.