Facts and Figures About the UK Animal Medicines Industry

NOAH represents the companies that research, develop, manufacture and market animal medicines in the UK. In 2001 NOAH's members represented around 95% of sales in the £359m animal medicine market (at ex-manufacturers prices).

The market is around 1/20th size of the UK market for prescription only medicine for humans, which for 1999 was £7 246m.

Sales Survey of Animal Health Products 2001
(£sterling at ex-manufacturers' prices)

Total UK sales of Animal Medicines

It is still a market with many products with small turnover, although numbers of licensed animal medicines available are declining.

The UK Market for Animal Medicines
Products by Sales Value 30th June 2000 MAT

What types of medicines are there?

Products can be loosely categorised into three main sections

(a) Preventative medicines

Licensed to stop healthy animals from getting sick or infested with parasites, these include:

• Endoparasiticides, prevent and treat infestations by parasites that invade the body, such as worms, flukes or coccidial protozoa
• Ectoparasiticides - prevent and treat infestation by parasites that live on the outside of the animal, for example mites, ticks, fleas, flies
• Endectocides - prevent and treat infestation of both types of parasite
• Vaccines - prevent diseases caused by certain viral or bacterial infections
• Antiseptics - prevent bacterial contamination

(b) Therapeutic Medicines

These cure sick animals and include:

• Antibiotics - treat bacterial infection
• Hormones - treat reproductive problems
• Anti-inflammatories (pain killers)
• Others (including cardiovascular medicines, and medicines for digestive disorders)

(c) Others

These are medicines to help the veterinarian or the farmer:

• Digestive enhancers - a very small group of specially approved antibiotics to help farm animals get the maximum benefit from their feed
• Anaesthetics (includes analgesics and euthanasia products)
• Dietary supplements - these are medicines to treat or prevent specific dietary deficiencies, rather than nutritional supplements.

The UK market for animal medicines

Sales by product type (£m at ex-manufacturers prices)

What are the trends in animal medicine use?

In 1986, when NOAH was formed, around 70% of animal medicines were used in farm livestock. Now over half animal medicine sales, by value, are for companion animal use, and this area continues to grow.

This swing towards companion animal medicine is in part due to the depressed state of UK livestock production, with farmers having less money to invest in their livestock, and there being fewer livestock for them to invest in.

But it is also due to exciting new product developments in the companion animal sector - Britain's pets have every opportunity to live long and healthy lives.

*Many products are licensed to be used in different species, and some for both food producing animals and pets. Manufacturers do not always know exactly where they will be used. If greater than 90% of sales fall within one of the three summary categories,  products are allocated to that category. If less than 90%, they are allocated to the 'multi' category in the survey.

Sales by classification

Medicines are classified according to how they may be sold:-

There is also an unofficial term ZFA for zootechnical feed additives.