Over the past 12 months Biobest has experienced major operational disruption as a result of essential upgrade works on our high containment rabies facility. These works, carried out by our landlord, took considerably longer than anticipated, and led to a sustained loss of customers, reduced sample volumes, and a substantial decline in income.

In addition, there has been a substantial increase in regulatory requirements and operating costs for the rabies testing service, combined with major additional costs under a new commercial lease arrangement. We are also seeing a general decline in our other revenue streams and note that this is a pattern being seen across the veterinary marketplace. This reduction in revenue, along with significant increases in operating costs, and the impact of other external economic factors has meant we have had to review the ongoing viability of Biobest.

Following a consultation process with our team, we regret to inform you that we have taken the difficult decision to close Biobest with immediate effect.

We will complete all work in progress as of 01Feb26 and results will be reported in due course, however, we are not able to accept any new samples. We will run our normal testing schedule in the week commencing 02Feb26 to process samples which are awaiting testing. Over the coming weeks, our team will continue to be available on site and will contact customers who have submitted samples which we cannot test. We will work with you to arrange for samples to be destroyed, returned, or forwarded to alternative laboratories as appropriate. We are aware that there will be some samples in transit to us already. Where possible these will be included on tests next week. Please note that we will not be able to store samples for 1 month after testing. All tested samples will be destroyed in the week commencing 09Feb26.

We will work closely with our health scheme members to ensure a smooth transition to an alternative provider. Health scheme members will be contacted directly in due course to discuss available options.

Biobest has been operating since 1995, and this has not been an easy decision to make. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your support and custom over the past 30 years, and wish you all the very best for the future.