There are several advantages of OPU-ICSI compared to traditional reproductive techniques:

• The collection of the oocytes can be carried out at any time of the year irrespective of the stage of the mare cycle and of the season.
• OPU-ICSI can be performed on all mares including those with reproductive pathologies such as metritis, hormonal imbalances that cause sterility or inabilities to carry a pregnancy.
• OPU-ICSI does not require repeated monitoring and inseminations and transport of the donor mare to and from the ET clinic, over a period of several weeks, as it is necessary for traditional flushing. Therefore OPU-ICSI is the best option for elite sport-mares since it does not interfere with their busy competition calendar.
• ICSI embryos can be frozen and stored indefinitely until a recipient mare is available for embryo transfer.
• The frozen embryos can be commercialized and also exported to other countries, including Europe, USA and Brazil, providing that the donor mare has been tested prior OPU according to health requirement for each specific country and the semen batch is also certified for export. 
• A minimal amount of semen is required for ICSI and even semen of low quality of infertile stallions can be tested and used successfully.

Economic aspects: costs and results of the OPU-ICSI technique compared to conventional flushing.

Each OPU-ICSI procedure at Avantea results in an average of 2 frozen embryos while with traditional insemination and uterine lavage an average of 0.6 embryos per procedure is obtained. Therefore, 3 flushings are necessary to have the same result as 1 OPU-ICSI with the consequent management costs of the donor (repeated monitoring, inseminations and transport to the clinic or hospitalization for ET) and a timescale often of many weeks for the flushing technique and instead of just one day, that of the oocyte collection, for the OPU-ICSI technique. Thus, an economic advantage also comes from time savings and speed of results.

For these reasons OPU-ICSI is the best option especially for competition mares because it does not interfere with their busy sporting calendar.

Furthermore, while for traditional flushing embryos it is always necessary to perform a fresh transplant into a recipient mare, OPU-ICSI embryos can be successfully frozen and allow for better breeding planning as well as representing an interesting commercial opportunity for owners of high genetic value mares.

Finally, thousands of Avantea-ICSI embryos have already been transferred with a pregnancy rate of over 70%, confirmed by various veterinary teams in Europe and the USA.

In the last 2-3 years many Avantea ICSI foals have been presented and appreciated at the most prestigious auctions in Europe with the prospect of starting an important sporting career and having a bright future in breeding.