VMD to launch new animal medicine adverse event reporting service in May 2026

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate will launch a new digital service for reporting adverse events associated with animal medicines on 20 May 2026. The service will replace the previous suspended reporting tool and will allow veterinary professionals, Suitably Qualified Persons and animal owners to report adverse events directly to the VMD.

Adverse events include any unexpected or harmful reactions in animals following the use of an animal medicine, as well as cases where a medicine appears not to work as expected. The new adverse event service will contain additional guidance on how best to complete a high-quality report, which will provide a more complete picture from the outset of the adverse event report, and it will integrate with existing pharmacovigilance processes to provide more efficient and comprehensive safety oversight. The service will be released as a beta version with the ability for users to give feedback, and further system improvements will be made where possible.

The VMD assesses the safety, quality and efficacy of veterinary medicines before and after authorisation to ensure that the benefit-risk balance remains positive. The VMD’s Pharmacovigilance team monitors all reports of adverse events, both adverse reactions and lack of efficacy reports, from authorised veterinary medicinal products that are submitted by veterinary professionals and animal owners. Marketing Authorisation Holders are required to monitor and report on the benefit-risk of their veterinary medicines on a continuous basis, including reporting adverse events within 30 days of awareness.

All reports received by the VMD are evaluated and where appropriate, actions based on available data may be taken, for example adding additional warnings on the packaging or changing the way a product is used. The VMD said reporting adverse events helps it and medicine manufacturers identify and respond to potential safety concerns, protecting animal health and welfare across the UK, and that every report contributes to a fuller picture of how medicines are performing in practice.

The VMD said it does not publish specific adverse event data, but information on adverse events that have been known to occur following administration of a particular product are summarised in sections 3.6/4.6 of the Summary of Product Characteristics. The SPC and associated product information are updated as new information is available, and the latest version can be found on the publicly available Product Information Database.

Until the new portal goes live, adverse event reports can still be submitted directly to the company responsible for the medicine, which has a legal responsibility to provide these reports to the VMD. Veterinary professionals are advised to contact the Marketing Authorisation Holder for the product, and animal owners to contact their veterinary practice and/or the MAH. If an animal was given a human medicine or a medicine not approved for use in animals, reports can be made to the VMD by requesting a form by email.