UK veterinary medicines regulator reports strong performance against key targets

UK veterinary medicines regulator reports strong performance against key targets
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate publishes its annual report and accounts for 2025-26.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), the UK regulator of veterinary medicines, has today published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2025 to 2026, setting out a year of strong performance in protecting animal health and welfare, public health, and the environment.
Delivering for animals and people
The VMD substantially met many of its core regulatory targets, achieving 100% performance on national applications, this is up from 96% the previous year, as well as 100% on inspections, import and export schemes, and product defect handling. Performance on other applications rose dramatically to 99%, compared to 56% in 2024/25.
Across the 38 measures defined within the organisation’s published standards, 22 were compliant 100% of the time. A further 13 were compliant between 95% and 99%, 2 between 85% and 94% of the time. Only 1 standard fell below 85%.
This means that the VMD is assessing and processing applications for medicines in a timely manner, so that medicines can get on the market and start treating diseases.
Over the year, the VMD authorised 20 vaccines and issued 130 marketing authorisations for pharmaceutical products, supporting disease prevention, food security and rural economies across the UK.
Fighting illegal medicines online
The VMD’s enforcement team removed more than 850 illegal listings from online marketplaces, protecting animal owners and the public from unsafe and unauthorised products.
Progress on antimicrobial resistance
The VMD continued to lead the veterinary component of the UK’s AMR National Action Plan, working across government, industry and the veterinary profession as part of a One Health approach.
The latest Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) report showed that total antibiotic sales for food-producing animals have fallen by 57% since 2014 – a landmark achievement in tackling one of the most serious long-term threats to both animal and human health.
A new surveillance pilot for healthy cats and dogs was also launched this year, plugging key data gaps in antimicrobial resistance surveillance.
Northern Ireland medicine supply
Working closely with Defra, devolved administrations and industry, the VMD successfully managed the end of the Northern Ireland grace period on 31 December 2025. No significant medicine supply issues were identified, reflecting the efforts made by the government and stakeholders to coordinate delivery.
Investing in people and systems
The VMD grew its workforce to over 207 full-time equivalent staff, including expanding the biologicals team by five people to handle the growing complexity of novel therapies and vaccines. The organisation also maintained its internationally recognised ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2022 certifications and continued significant investment in digital modernisation.
Abigail Seager, Chief Executive of the VMD said:
This has been a complex and demanding year for the VMD, shaped by global animal disease pressures, antimicrobial resistance, and continued regulatory and operational change following the Windsor Framework. Throughout the year, we have remained focused on our core purpose: protecting animal health and welfare, safeguarding public health, and minimising risks to the environment through proportionate, science‑led regulation.
The full Annual Report and Accounts 2025 to 2026 is available here: [Link]
A summary report is also available.