A brief history.

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As a plant biochemist, I stumbled into the world of sperm diluents by chance. Sperm diluents are also named sperm preservation media or extenders. A business relation asked me to look into recipes for swine semen diluents, and by chance, I came across ingredients for preserving swine semen diluents, which favorably affect the preservation of the diluted semen. At that point, my endeavor in animal semen preservation media began.

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After the fortunate discovery of the positive effect of whey protein, I have worked with several companies dealing with artificial insemination in animals. My primary partner and employer for many years was IMV Technologies in France. From 2007 to 2016, I was a member of their R&D team and advisor.

 

In 2016, I decided to realize a dream, namely, to develop and market an extender for stallion semen. I started to work with Bart Kools, who was responsible for semen processing at the Schockemohle farm, the largest stallion farm in Europe.  In 2017, my new extender for chilled stallion semen, named Hippex, was launched. In the years that followed, I developed other diluents for stallion semen.

 

In 2020, I handed over the production and sales of the series of Hippex extenders to Leo Vankrieken, director of HuVeSearch (Pelt, Belgium), through an exclusive license. More information can be seen on www.hippex.net.

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So my dream came true. But then I recently read a publication about new insights into rabbit reproduction. Since I developed an extender for rabbit sperm in 2015,  my curiosity was aroused. My extender, Lepex, has been sold in Europe and, since 2020, has been produced and sold by HuVeSearch. But reading the new insights, I got the dream to modify Lepex into a sperm diluent that induces ovulation. The results can be read here.

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